How a System Which Discounts Individuality Adversely Impacts Client Solutions
To paraphrase Pablo Picasso: All children are born artists. The trouble is to continue being artists as we grow.
By definition, artistry requires a keen sense of awareness, the ability to see beyond the obvious and, importantly, courage to express oneself.
Most times, as college students and young professionals, individualism is gradually broken out of a person. Business schools instruct students on how to approach problems and propose solutions; and they conduct seminars on appropriate dress, manners of correspondence, how to eat in professional settings, and so on. By conforming to these expectations, one can convey that they have a familiarity with the operating environments in which they work. This is especially true for young professionals, as they gain their bearings in the first few years of their careers, and (crucially) because clients are billed for their services while they learn and grow.
As professionals are indoctrinated into generally accepted business practices, their individuality (i.e. the unique ways in which one sees, thinks, and provides solutions) recedes. As such, the veneer of the “generally accepted version of professionalism” remains longer than is truly useful. Conformity supplants the individuality which could have allowed for unique interpretations of problems and, in turn, innovative approaches to solutions.
It is regrettable to think that, in preparing a young professional for the “real world”, one’s sense of self is commonly diminished by the time it can be leveraged as a professional tool.
Abstract thought and differentiation amongst us deserve a place in all avenues of business. My hope is that this is generally accepted sooner rather than later.