Very successful businessmen preach that the difference for them is that they select the path that no one else is taking. They zig when others zag. The mindset is that if everyone else is doing it then what advantage do I have?

This is also true when the goal is to make something remarkable. If it is remarkable then it challenges conventions and no one has ever seen it before. It is unimaginable to them.

To get to that end state though you have to balance skepticism with creativity. Skepticism is needed so that the project stays on track and levels a certain amount of reality to the proceedings. Creativity is needed to test new theories, try new methods, and unlock assumptions. The creativity aspect needs to go right up to that line of chaos.

A good example of this is in today’s NY Times. The article is called The Team That Put the Net in Orbit by John Markoff. Markoff describes the environment that was needed to install the TCP/ IP computer network language. There were renegades – Milo Medin, there was business – IBM, and there were legislators – Al Gore who all accepted that this was a new and untested way to accomplish something that they couldn’t even dream. But they knew that the idea was too good to leave alone. Think of it this way – who is the president of the internet? Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But that was and still remains an unconventional concept – having no recognized person in charge.

Some zig while most others zag.