So much of life is devoted to doing the obvious, expected and usual things. Our passion for the obvious flows into work where we do the things that everyone recommends and everyone else is doing. Doing the obvious is what is considered normal. We are often so consumed by doing the obvious we have little time to reflect.
We are so focused on the usual expected obvious solutions we either can’t hear or can’t see when someone proposes an alternative more unusual path. Divergence is opposed and discouraged because the social proof of the obvious is so strong. Quite often we are all so resistant to anything other than the obvious that we refuse to listen and refuse to understand. We make people go and show us there is a better way, provoking our surprise and frustration in equal measure.
When you ask the people who did something different what inspired them to make all that effort against the norms they say ‘I saw a better way’. When you follow up and ask ‘But why did you pursue it?’ They look at you blankly at first and if you persist at last they admit ‘But isn’t it obvious?’
