Often the status quo seems the safest route. When in doubt, just do what everyone else does, right? You don’t want to second guess conventional wisdom for the lesser issues, but I’d argue that winning big is often the outcome from what was initially a contrarian view. Taking a contrarian view is a big bet.
Copernicus. Gallileo. Columbus. All contrarians.
Warren Buffett. Steve Jobs. Larry Page & Sergey Brin. More contrarians.
Sir Edmund Hillary. Roger Bannister. Jackie Robinson. Yep, they were contrarians too.
Their successes are only remarkable because they had the courage and conviction to disregard conventional wisdom and take a contrarian view. Regardless of how you define success – advancing science, building wealth and creating new industries or redefining sport – immeasurable rewards often follow when you take a contrarian view that later becomes the status quo.
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I don’t think all the people you list above were “contrarian”. They were just in search of explanation, truths or better solutions. Being contrarian was just a consequence of their work.
An advice like this might be pursued as “you want to do everything the opposite”, versus (what I think you wanted to say) “challenge the status quo”.
BTW, here is a blog post about challenging the “status quo” of job posts:
http://marcelo.sampasite.com/brave-tech-world/All-Job-Posts-Are-Ofensive-to-Ca.htm
Thanks Marcelo. If anyone interprets my post as “just do the opposite” you are correct, that would be ill advised.
Don’t be contrarian just to be contrarian. But, if you believe the status quo to be fundamentally wrong, you should seek explanation, truth or better solutions.
We could debate each person I cited, but it’s hard to argue that deliberating sailing your vessel toward the perceived edge of the flat earth is anything but a contrarian view of the conventional wisdom of the day.