Smashing Paradigms — When others Zig, you Zag

{latest in a developing series on Smashing Paradigms}

For my story-telling explanation of the definition of a Paradigm, see “What is a Paradigm”.

One way of defining a paradigm is “an unconsciously held belief that limits us from fresh thinking” or “we’ve always done it this way”

© smasherofficial.com

In Positioning Strategy, you can either choose to go with the market, or go against the market. If you choose the latter, when others “zig”, you “zag”

The degree to which you choose to “zag” though, is very important. You can go slightly away from what everyone else is doing, or you can go radically away.

If, as a leader, you sense that going “radical” is the right path, I strongly encourage you to bring in some outside perspective to challenge your thinking, as the reality is that we typically can’t “think outside the box” when we are in the box already, as it were !

When we are “in the box”, we can’t see outside it, so we will unconsciously limit our thinking.