老九品茶Cloud executive editor Chris Maguire says sometimes it pays to be different
Apparently听there are 171,146 words currently in use in the English language, but there isn鈥檛 a word to describe people who have a fear of being different.听
You couldn鈥檛 make it up (literally)!!!听
There might not be a word for the听phobia,听but it听definitely exists.听
People are so afraid of being different that they make a conscious effort to be the same.听
However sometimes it pays to be different.听
When I did my A-levels in the 1990s, I was told the apocryphal story of the student who got top marks in his philosophy exam by answering the question:听 “Is this a question?” with: “Yes, if this is an answer.鈥� Stories like that deserve to be true.听
Earlier this week,听Social Chain鈥檚 co-founder Steven Bartlett posted to say he鈥檇 offered an听internship听to听a young graduate because he鈥檇 done something different to the other 500+ people who鈥檇 applied for the role.听
Nathan Bickerton said he鈥檇 Googled Bartlett’s name on Wednesday morning and noticed he didn’t have a Wikipedia page so created one for him.听
Bartlett responded by telling his 162,000 followers on LinkedIn:听 “I offered this young guy a job 10 minutes after he sent me this message. He identified a blind spot I had, created a solution, got it done and sent me a nice message.鈥�听
The post attracted nearly 36,000 likes, 1,000 comments and made headlines of its own.听
Huge credit to Nathan. Incidentally,听I tried to find the Wikipedia page without success;听but, like the philosophy student I mentioned earlier, it doesn鈥檛 really matter.听
I鈥檓 sharing this story because I鈥檝e reached the conclusion that huge swathes of the tech sector look the same.听
In some respects,听it鈥檚 hardly surprising when you consider the power of the tech giants (Facebook also owns听WhatsApp and Instagram,听for example) but tech is meant to be disruptive.听听
It should be the enfant terrible of the business world, not the sensible one with a packed lunch!听听
Why first principles thinking can help you听succeed in business
Companies like Airbnb, Uber, Apple, Spotify, Amazon and Netflix have been successful because they鈥檝e not been afraid to be different and they do it better than anyone else.听听
However,听a lot of tech entrepreneurs talk about being the 鈥榥ext Airbnb鈥� of the 鈥榥ext Netflix鈥� rather than the first of what they are.听
French fashion designer Coco Chanel once said: 鈥淚n order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.鈥� That鈥檚 never been truer than in the world of tech.听
Contact Chris at Chris.maguire@businesscloud.co.uk or on Twitter at