Amplifying our us-ness

A company's culture is a powerful weapon when it comes to inspiring creativity.

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And yet... a company's culture also unintentionally encourages conformity.

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We are encouraged to think similarly to others around us. The things that make us unique tend to get sanded-down.

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This happens to people outside of organizations, too — because we've conditioned ourselves to think too much about what other people will think about whatever we think. It's a whole lot of over-thinking.

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So let's flip it, and embrace our us-ness.

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Try this as an exercise to get to more unique and unexpected ideas:

• Write down ten things that you really like or that you believe strongly, but might be hesitant to say out loud in a corporate setting.

  
  

• As a thought exercise, assume that everyone in your company — and all your clients — love or believe the same things.

  
  

• Then generate 20 ideas for your business or clients that build on those passions or beliefs.

  
  

Let's be grateful for our us-ness. Let's be grateful for being a bit weird. Hooray for nonconformity.

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(If you have a team, try doing this exercise together — with everyone sharing at least one of their hesitant-to-share thoughts and the resulting ideas. Even if the ideas aren't perfect, they'll help the team better appreciate the uniqueness that each person brings to the party.)