Not like sheep

IT is a Tuesday morning early in November. I am sitting at a small round cherry table in a Starbucks coffee shop in southeast Denver. Out one window, I see the tall skinny black letters of a Gap store. Out another, I see a Walgreen's Drugs. Behind me is an Embassy Suites.

Although I am very aware of being in Colorado since I live here, I am startled by the recognition that this same setting - from the reggae music playing in the background to the herd of sport utility vehicles in the parking lot - could be in any large city in the United States and even, perhaps, a few overseas. In fact, I recently received an e-mail from an editor in Taipei who said she was writing to me from a laptop computer in her local Starbucks.

I worry a great deal about the homogenisation of culture that is underway in our society. Regardless of what city in which we live, we can visit the same restaurant for lunch, listen to the same moralising talk show hosts on our car radios, and overhear the same kinds of dreadful cell phone conversations as I am right now. (Does the woman next to me really think that I cannot hear her complaining into her phone about the neighbour's dog?)

To a point, the uniformity that surrounds us is fine. After all, culture is created by the blending of values, likes, dislikes, institutions and customs and the more uniform those things are, the stronger the culture is. Furthermore, as pack animals, most human beings have a natural bent toward social conformity and assimilation. We pay attention to what is "cool" because we do not want to risk being shunned by the fellow creatures we rely upon for our sense of identity.

So why do I worry about all this sameness? Because I am afraid it is becoming harder and harder to be an original in modern society. Being an independent thinker who eschews contemporary fads requires far more courage than most of us possess. I, for one, spent all of last weekend looking at slate tile for a fireplace I am remodelling simply because I learned that slate tile is "in". After two days of hauling around tile samples I have finally admitted to myself that I do not even like slate. Could I have spent the weekend in a more creative and gratifying way? No doubt.

While the fear being perceived as "different" is prevalent in society overall, it is pandemic in organisational life. We may say we value originality and innovation, but in reality, it is too risky for individual employees to make any kind of far-out suggestion. What if the pack, disagrees with your idea? Where does that leave you the next time everyone is planning a get together after work?

Because of this fear, instead of devising our own creative solutions to vexing organisational problems, we seek other examples to follow. We want to know how Starbucks keeps its coffee shops fully staffed when low-wage service workers are among the hardest to find. We want to know how Sears measures organisational effectiveness. We want to know what Hewlett Packard has to say about managing diversity.

I am not suggesting there is no merit in the best practices movement. We do learn from good examples just as we learn from bad ones. But the kind of corporate tourism wherein executives tour the country looking for great ideas to copy has gone too far. In a highly competitive, rapidly changing marketplace, copycats do not stand a chance. Only those who risk being out front with new and highly original ideas have an opportunity to succeed. Think about automated teller machines, compact discs and pagers. Nobody asked for this stuff, but some visionary thinkers took the risk, developed their ideas and created new profitable markets in the process.

There is a great cartoon by Gary Larson that shows a group of sheep grazing in a field. In the middle of the herd, one sheep is standing up on his back legs. With his front legs raised in the air, he proclaims: "Wait! Wait! Listen to me! We do not have to be just sheep!"

It is a great image for managers to keep in mind. As you begin to think more strategically about how to manage people in your organisation, you have to be willing to stand up and challenge conventional wisdom. Instead of wondering how other companies have solved their problems, you have to take a look at the uniqueness of your own organisation and ask yourself if the solutions you propose make sense for your particular group of employees.

Doing so will not only increase your chances of success, but it will also probably feel a lot better to you as an individual. Why? Because there is a real paradox at work here. Even though we all work very hard to fit in - and our culture encourages it - we also like to think of ourselves as unique individuals. As Malcolm Forbes once said: "There are no exceptions to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule."

The trick lies in having the courage to actually be one.

SHARI CAUDRON

The writer is an award-winning journalist and corporate communications consultant based in Denver. E-mail her at OTCHindu@aol.com

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