It's time to rip up the contract society forced us to sign
On why conformist thinking and relative goal-setting could lead us into an innovation vacuum if we don't act fast
Every previous human civilisation has, at some point, ended.
I promise this is the most morbid sentence in this piece.
These civilisation-wide implosions have usually been self-induced: exceeding the environmental ceiling, catastrophic in-fighting…fill in the blank with the storyline of your favourite disaster movie.
Okay, now I actually promise.
There are two ways we could look at this. One way is to rest on our laurels and leisurely pluck grapes from the Spanish vine given that we’re all going to bite the dust so we may as well forget trying to make a difference and focus on living our best lives. Another way is to ask ourselves: how can we ensure that our technologically-advanced, highly competent civilisation is the exception to the rule?
A while ago, we talked about that fact that we’re conformist thinkers. Today I want to discuss the effects that our conformist thinking has on what we choose to do with our lives and our collective ability to innovate.
You don’t make your own decisions
That our behaviour is primarily driven by our own opinions and desires is one of the most problematic lies we tell ourselves. Sure, some of our behaviour is influenced by our own habits, but the rest is dictated by what the people around us are doing.
“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.”
We sign a silent contract with society when we’re young that sings to the tune of this: the more conformist you are, the more you’ll achieve and the more well-liked you’ll be. One of the most entrenched ways this manifests in our society is our conventional choice of careers.
With nearly 40% of Harvard graduates going to work in professional services such as management consulting and investment banking, the talent of some of our brightest minds (by conventional metrics) is concentrated in industries where it’s famously difficult to spark innovation and impact.
The perils of relative goals
As Girard points out, these talented Harvard grads follow the same narrow tracks because they inherit desires from those around them. The reason this happens is because people in groups tend to rank themselves by progress within that group. When I was in my final year of university applying for graduate jobs, my metric of success was not: “can I get the job I want?”. It was: “how many job offers am I getting in comparison to my peers?” Prioritising relative goals (how am I doing versus my friends), instead of absolute goals (how well am I understanding this concept), is a bias ingrained in all of us.
This type of goal-setting is the default when you share a goal with someone, because our metrics of success are the same. If we decide to veer off the well-trodden path, we’re punched in the gut by the absence of a socially-approved definition of success. This sucker punch triggers ambiguity, fear and uncertainty, stifling our desire to pursue goals that lie on the fringes of the well-worn path of success. It’s like an identity-erasing Mirror of Erised, where the longer you stare into the mirror, the more you see yourself adorned with the awards and accolades of your peers. If you don’t understand this reference, you have my blessing to drop this newsletter and to pick up a copy of Harry Potter at once. Seriously, go now.
We’re living in an innovation vacuum
On a global scale, this becomes more serious than individual career choices. I worry that the combination of our relative goal-setting and the hyper-partisanship that characterises today’s society will create an innovation vacuum. Not because technology is progressing slower than before (it isn’t), but because our thoughts, beliefs and ideas are becoming increasingly concentrated at the extremes. In a recent article in the New Yorker, it was argued that in today’s world, party, race, faith, and even TV viewing habits are all correlated.
“As a result…Americans no longer juggle several, potentially conflicting group identities; they associate with one, all-encompassing group, which confers what she calls a “mega-identity.””
Since multiple aspects of our identity have combined to created this “mega-identity”, the more our identity and choices are challenged, the more attacked we feel. When considered in the context of what people choose to dedicate their lives to, this extreme groupthink becomes a major concern.
Given the rapidly changing world we live in and the number of complex, interconnected problems we need to tackle, it’s critical that people think differently.
I get it. It’s hard. To swim against the current of popular opinion is to risk whiplash from the cruelty of cancel culture, or to be deafened by the shrieking silence of indifference. But there’s a reason organisations like Effective Altruism are striving to get people to focus on issues that receive little attention compared to how important they are and how much can be done about them. Despite the fact that there is potential to create massive impact in these areas, these problems are deemed unsexy.
“I've seen the same pattern in many different fields: even though lots of people have worked hard in the field, only a small fraction of the space of possibilities has been explored, because they've all worked on similar things.”
This is exactly why we need to listen to our own desires and intrinsic motivations to enable innovation. The credential-adorned diploma we dream of publishing into the void of socially-accepted success (and yes, I am aware of the great irony of writing this sentence as an Oxford grad and LinkedIn alum) erases our true motivations and desires. Empowering people with the self-awareness and resources to understand their intrinsic motivations and desires is a necessity for society to continuously innovate.
As Benjamin Franklin once said: “If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.”
So, what can we do about it?
Protect thyself
One solution to our conformist instincts is simply to be less aware of conventional beliefs. After all, it’s hard to be a conformist if you don’t know what you’re supposed to conform to. But let’s be honest, in today’s information-rich, media-fuelled world, it’s hard to protect yourself from the constant onslaught of news.
Another technique is to actively seek out diverse or contrarian perspectives. If you’re surrounded by people who believe the same things you do, you’re less likely to feel comfortable expressing a different opinion. Conversely, if you’re hanging out with people who all have different opinions, it becomes much easier to express a contrasting belief.
Whilst our current social climate means that it’s easier than ever to be a conformist thinker, I’m still optimistic about the younger generation’s ability to shirk their conformist instincts and forge their own paths. The looming cost of living crisis, coupled with the rising debt of student loans and the hangover of globally traumatic crises such as COVID-19, has crippled young people’s trust in institutions and authority. Whilst this generation was raised in a Pavlovian environment, where conformity was praised and originality punished, the cracks are now starting to show. Gen Z wants to think differently.
The road less travelled
Encouraging more people to take the road less travelled in their careers will give us the best chance of being an anomalous data point on the graph of human self-sabotage. The next article will explore a new mode of working that I hope will empower the next generation to do so.
I’ll leave you with an excerpt of one of my favourite poems - The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. I hope it encourages you to consider how much is always to be discovered by pursuing the roads we have yet to take.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
~ Robert Frost
Resources & Inspiration
http://www.imitatio.org/brief-intro
http://www.paulgraham.com/fp.html
https://medium.com/s/story/a-culture-of-prestige-98c8671ceade
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/03/how-politics-got-so-polarized
The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost