Riding the Wave of Weirdness

 

Weirdness could and should be the new normal…

In his book “We Are All Weird”, Seth Godin illustrates how none of us is perfectly 100% average — that even the most mundane among us have interests and habits that set us apart.

If, in fact, we are all weird, how do we live in a world that seems designed for conformists? He states that mass markets are a mythical idea where normal people just want normal things and that mass-market mentality will soon be washed away by a tsunami of the weird.

The idea of being normal is an invention of a bygone era when mass production, mass media, and the mass markets treated everyone their aim for efficiency. These days, with increased material wealth and internet access, more people are free to exercise individual choice — and many are choosing to be weird. This is an increasing individualism that everyone from marketers to educators should find ways to cater to.

According to Godin, weird refers to everyone who falls outside the normal masses. We are not talking about people with uncommon physical features or minority identities. It means those with characteristics and qualities that are unusual by choice — strange hobbies or oddball interests. For example, being vegan used to be weird — so did living a mindful life and being spiritual. Godin believes the way to succeed in this brave new world is by being bold enough to buck the status quo and embrace the bizarre.

Learning to ride that wave of weirdness will be an essential skill for our businesses and personal lives.

The rising tide of weird allows us to cultivate a community around what we care about. It separates us from the world of mass culture and allows us to find our tribe. As normal keeps eroding, we will use our power to identify with our own weird tribes.

These days, a bestselling book will only be on top of the charts for a few weeks instead of a few months. As people gravitate to what truly interests them, “the popular” just isn’t so popular anymore.

This will create a diversified market which means more choice, and when people have more choices they have more power.

So, are we all destined to live lives where consumption is dictated by conformity?

Not necessarily. We can choose to be weird.