I’ve observed over the years that the most creative thinkers I know tend to have a non-conformist streak. It’s not an absolutely hard-and-fast rule – there are a few exceptions on both sides – but it does make sense to me. The human race needs innovators to drive progress, from discovering how to harness fire or make a spear right through to the inventions of the modern world. However, too many innovators would be unworkable because they’d all be arguing for their own ideas instead of taking up each other’s. The world also needs people – a majority of people – who are happy to adopt these ideas collectively and make them work. These people may not go out on a limb creatively, but they are the backbone of a society, the ones who actually implement the changes and establish progress.
This majority of people mostly derive satisfaction from fitting in, belonging, conforming. That’s why they can respond collectively to adopt new ideas, to use them in the same way as each other, and to work as a team to implement them effectively.
However, if you’re a natural innovator (or a self-created one) you can’t always be worrying about what other people think. Most people resist change, so if you listen to them you’ll be dissuaded from your exciting, creative new ideas. In Dr Meredith Belbin’s studies of team roles, the creative ideas person is termed the Plant. Belbin recognises that these people often struggle to fit into a hierarchy, or to cope with rigid systems or bureaucracy. They can be independent, maverick, even disruptive. So in simplified terms, an effective society that is able to progress needs a majority of conformers and a small minority of non-conforming ideas people.
Just because someone doesn’t have a conformist nature doesn’t mean they never conform. Almost no one never conforms. If you get dressed in the morning, clean your teeth, drive on the correct side of the road, you’re conforming. However these people don’t conform simply for the sake of it, because they don’t get as much of a kick out of belonging and fitting in as most other people do.
This is important in terms of their ability to generate ideas, because they need to be free of the constraints it would place on their creativity. If you didn’t want to voice any ideas that didn’t fit in with the norm, that you thought others might disagree with or be unhappy about, your ability to innovate would be severely hampered.
So if you’re serious about developing your creative thinking skills, you need to be prepared for this. If you’re naturally quite conformist and enjoy that feeling of going along with everyone else, you’ll need to develop a bit of a thick skin. You don’t have to hurt other people’s feelings, or act without kindness, but ideas lead to innovation, and innovation leads to change. And, while most people will accept a change for the better in the long term, often they will resist it in the short term. You can’t let that put you off.
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS BE WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK