Conformity Is A Curse
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
The founder of LevelUp, a mobile payments and loyalty app that was bought by GrubHub in 2018, never wore shoes, slept in the office more than at home and used to wear the same orange shirt to work every day.
We’ve all heard stories like these. They’re chalked up as “wacky entrepreneur traits”, and become the stuff of legend when the outfit is successful. They’re fun to read and retell, such as how Steve Jobs wore the same black turtleneck and jeans day in and day out.
But are we so generous in our interpretations when it comes to the more traditional corporate context, especially those we work within? How do we view those who exhibit ‘individual’ traits? How do we react to them?
When it comes to these personal quirks, we tend to have dual views.
When the individual is starting out, if they’re an unknown quantity, we will invariably scoff at them. We may or may not say anything, but we do judge. Who is this guy? Why is he making a spectacle of himself? Why is he calling so much attention to himself? And if they don’t perform beyond expectations, then this judgment magnifies.
But when they perform well - and certainly when they exceed expectations - we see these traits as ‘quirks’, just a part of their wacky personality. Suddenly, we view them more positively, maybe even begin to mimic them in some form or fashion. It’s all part of the package called greatness.
The damage is done in-between.
Strict dress codes. Confining norms of behavior. Tones of interpersonal conversations. All of these come together to influence and shape our cultures and behaviors as organizations. They free us or they restrict us.
When they inhibit our individuality and make us feel bad about ‘different’ aspects of ourselves that we enjoy or value, then that’s a problem - and that problem lies with the culture and the rules, not with us.
Similarly, as leaders, when we create constructs that focus more on aspects of style rather than substance, we’re moving in the wrong direction. We’re adding to the issue and making getting to our mission that much harder.
The key is to ask yourself: will this specific rule improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the work to be done? Be as objective as possible in your answer, free of your own personal biases and preconceived notions. If the answer is no, then you don’t need it.
To be clear, of course, this isn’t about the basics - hygiene is non-negotiable, for example, as is basic decency. But beyond that, we must allow for individual expression that still allows us to optimize the value of the collective.
Conformity for the purposes of optics is a curse. As such, any rule or behavior or language that promotes conformity in that sense not only serves no value, it actually destroys it.
