Deviant Curve

Seek security in stasis and protection in not making waves. They operate out of fear and a sense of insecurity. They would rather forgo potential opportunities in exchange for the safety of the status quo. It is simply not worth it to take a risk and fail – even small ones. They stay safely out of the line of fire. Safely on the sidelines of innovation – even if their trend lines and relevancy are in decline. These people, organizations and brands value safety and security over everything else and it shows in what they choose not to do.

Find safety and comfort in following the masses. They benchmark, mimic and borrow. Their ultimate goal is to me more like the people, organizations and brands around them. They may evolve over time but only once the norm and the standard has been established. This not only leads to a lack of innovative thinking and positive change – it leads to an active, willful pursuit of sameness.

Seek to live outside the conformists. They are less interested in true innovation and disruption than they are incremental change. Marginal differences. Safe delineations. These people, organizations and brands often seek cosmetic differences instead of fundamental change. They compete for share and space but never break the category with novel thinking.

Seek to pull themselves to the farthest reaches of the distribution curve. The long tail. The fringe - where freedom exists and real change can happen. These people, organizations and brands seek fundamental change. They seek to innovate and expand what is possible – literally pushing the curve out to previously unforeseen places. These are the crusaders, the visionaries. The people with the courage and the conviction to make real change and make a real difference. This is less than 1% of people, organizations and brands. While the Deviants are statistically insignificant, they historically make the biggest difference and the most amount of positive, durable impact.