Don't Stamp Out the Stand-Outs: Sameness and Smooth Sailing

Left-Brainers vs. Right-Brainers

In many businesses and organizations, sameness is encouraged. When sameness prevails, the water is calm. When differences are introduced, waves begin to ripple and wave—sometimes to a point that seems out of control.

Administrators typically dislike waves. Calmness is much simpler. Therefore, the people in the organization, who do not make waves, are often smiled upon.

The divergent thinkers are often regarded less favorably.

In favor of smooth sailing, a short-sighted Administrator might consider totally eradicating the divergent. Yet, in doing so, something crucial is lost.

In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid (2002) address this concern, saying that a balance between the two factions is in order. In summarizing their points, they say the following: “. . . routine behavior. . . is the key to orderly process. . . . On the other hand, to survive in a changing world, organizations also need to improvise, to break routine, by trying new things, exploring new regions, finding new markets, developing new models. Improvisation, however, inevitably disrupts routine. Consequently, all organizations have to balance routine and improvisation. “ (p. 109).