I am not a normal person. It’s pretty awesome to be comfortable with my strangeness because, in a world of conformity, this is a differentiator. One of the best things about being a dad is noticing and experiencing how my kids’ personalities and styles are developing. How they are totally strange and completely comfortable with it. How they are also striving to fit in. How they are testing and learning what it means to lead. I like how they think differently about the world and I hope they always hold on to the sparks that make them different because the world needs more weirdness. Here is why we should strive to be strange as individuals and communities.
Youniqueness
My hope is that you want to change the world. Maybe in a variety of small ways. Perhaps by creating an important thing or performing at the highest level for everyone to see. Robin Sharma argues that you can fit in with the herd or you can change the world, but you can’t do both. The sad news is that, from an early age and over time, human beings are taught to conform and be like everyone else. Jessica Hagy is not here for a march towards conformity:
To fit inside the cookie cutter, you have to lob off a part of yourself. It hurts less to just be authentic. Stop exhausting yourself pretending to be someone or something you’re not.
What makes us weird makes us memorable. Especially when our strangeness disrupts how a team, organization, or community functions. Leaders who set out to change the world in strange and bold ways leave a lasting impact because innovation happens when weirdos challenge the status quo. Besides, weirdness is also fantastic for parties (hopefully these are just…around…the…corner…).
Community creativity
Weirdness fosters community. Think of a weird interest or quality that you possess. There are probably thousands of people around the world (and definitely on the Internet) with whom you can nerd-out about such things. When we’re more of ourselves we espouse enthusiasm and confidence, which can contagiously spread creativity across all of our relationships, too.
The best teams I’ve led have had a collection of wonderful weirdos that make safety, trust, and creativity contagious. From quilters to animal-lovers, teammates who put their strangeness on display and then have this trait openly accepted on the team enable a safer, looser, and more inclusive culture.
There are lots of ways to enhance your creativity through weird and novel experiences, so get started because the world absolutely needs more weirdos who can help us .
Strength in diversity
Striving for strange enhances bias mitigation and resilience, too. According to The Atlantic’s Olga Khazan, weird leaders are more likely to approach uncertainty and problem-solving like a cool, calm, and collected scientist: “people who are strong in integrative complexity tend to handle uncertainty well and excel at reconciling conflicting information. They’re often able to see problems from multiple perspectives.”
Great teams cultivate weirdness because when people can be more of who they are then they will work and live with authenticity and lightness – bottling up novel traits to fit in at parties or water cooler conversations will force us into dark places. While it might get a bit messy, building teams of folks who are authentically themselves and comfortable in their own skin creates support systems that foster collective resilience over time. Weirdos helping weirdos. It’s a beautiful thing.
There is no such thing as normal. So be weird and be yourself (everyone is already taken).