I recently read a great article from Paula Pollock is Director of the Pollock Marketing Group about not conforming in business as it applies to marketing and advertising and it’s all about being creative. It also ties into a talk given at TED that can been seen here:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=705485858609&ref=mf

In our school days teachers rewarded conformity, color inside the lines, make your letters like everyone else and obey the rules. As we got older even our bosses and the companies that we worked for stressed conformity, even in our highly creative industry of web design and interactive advertising. The entertaining video from TED implies that learning institutions should encourage creative thoughts and thinking differently, but they fall short at present.

Today you might be in business for yourself and if we have let conformity reign then it will be very hard to stand out, become what you have hoped and be your grand success. As Paula puts it “…There is a fine line to being noticed or notable. Being noticed can be a negative thing.  I’m sure you’ve experienced those people that upon first introduction see it as their cue to launch into a sales pitch.  Once you get a reputation like this, people often avoid them knowing what’s to come. It’s noticeable, but not in a good way.”

Be Notable, and do something so exceptional that it’s impossible for anyone to deny you are the very best person for the job. Having a very strong unique selling proposition (USP) that you back up and deliver is one of your best ways to become notable.

Average is not exceptional. Don’t just look for an okay way to do business, seek opportunities to be unique and stand alone. This requires taking risks, that might fail, but as the video from TED puts it… fail many times to eventually succeed and find creative ways to exploit the good aspects of our tiny failures that all surmount to grand success and superiority.