What is Your SO - Your STAND OUT?
By Jay Forte – Humanetrics, LLC
Everything has become a commodity…cheaper versions of the same stuff – over and over. Companies quickly catch up with what others have done – and even a good idea quickly becomes “commodicized.” How do you keep the SO…the Stand Out factor?
Historically we love to blend. Maybe we don’t want to but it always seems to end up that way. Even though we know the new, the different, the distinct is what gets people’s attention, most of our days, our services and our products look like what either people expect or what is currently done. Bland. Blah. Boring.
Most of us don’t like to stand out…to be different. We were well trained years ago in school. We arrived unique, independent, seeing things the way our unique patterns of synaptic responses allowed us to see things. And then we were corralled into school…similar thinking, all taking the same courses, the sky is blue, grass is green, the sun is yellow and everyone sits in alphabetical order. What if in your mind, the sun is not yellow but some other combination of colors? What if in your mind the eyes belong on only one side of the nose, or that trees are in a sky or a watch is fluid? Our first thought is “that is not right; the universe has an order and trees belong on the ground.” And we perpetuate the state of things looking as they are or as people expect them to be, not as they could be.
I believe that each of us have been uniquely created and there are many things that may either appeal to me or show up in my mind that do not appeal or show up in others. And my greatest successes in life will come from my personal permission (and the encouragement of a truly dynamic manager in the workplace) to allow my mind to see the things that it sees, consider everything and let it invent.
So back to school… As we were herded into similar thinking, much of our ability to stand out, to celebrate our uniqueness was challenged, diminished or eliminated. Over time we became great at seeing things the way most people see things and following the standard rules. Blend. Don’t get noticed. Fit in.
In the SO thinking, breaking the rules is critical. In SO thinking, the goal is to know what other do and insist on doing something different. In SO thinking we don’t try to fit in…we separate ourselves because in a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. As Tom Peters states, “In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” If the point of being in business is to develop a loyal customer base – those customers who return and tell their friends about it, it is not going to happen by doing what everyone else does. It may be a more innovative product, more outrageous service or creating a new and efficient process. But in all cases it is about standing out, getting noticed and being remembered. Standing out is about creating something original, exciting and dynamic.
SO thinking starts with the permission and requirement to let yourself invent; consider everything in an open and accepting environment. It starts by insuring that your team in the workplace is diverse in both background and experiences. It starts by requiring that all employees openly invent, think and participate in decision-making. It starts with permission to say what is on your mind and to share what you think. This is the only way to invite the new, the different and the great.
Think of the B’s as bad….bland. boring, blending…going bust. Instead think “stand out.” Think unique, valuable, exceptional and exclusive. Think success by focusing on what makes you different and distinct. Stand out. Be different. Make them remember you.
Humanetrics, LLC. All rights reserved 2007.