Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.
George Mack
What's an idea that if you see it -- you can never unsee it?
Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.
Nobody tells stories of when you did the expected — they only tell stories when you did the unexpected.
Normal behavior costs nothing in the short term — but it disappears into the abyss.
Unconventional behavior costs a social price in the short term — but the actions live on as story assets in the future.
1. If you pay for the bill at everyone in the table - the short-term reaction is shock and confusion. But in the long term, it’s everyone’s favorite memory of you.
2. If you travel across the world for a friend's birthday, the friend’s initial reaction is: “You don’t have to do that” — but it’s the story they tell at your funeral.
3. If you’re 100% honest with your feedback on people’s business ideas, the short-term reaction is anger — but in the long term, you become one of the few people they trust.
If you study the biographies of the greats or attend the funerals of people you care about — the normal rational behavior is never mentioned.
It’s filled with stories that make the individual unique. It’s all the times they broke out of the median distribution of human behavior.
If you want to create behavioral assets that tell stories for you in the future, you have to pay the price of appearing weird in the present moment.
Your unique brand is defined by your weirdness, eccentricities, and irrational behavior.
If you remove them to fit in with the tribe, you remove all future stories and memories that tribe will tell about you.
Stay weird.
What's an idea that if you see it -- you can never unsee it?
Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.
Nobody tells stories of when you did the expected — they only tell stories when you did the unexpected.
Normal behavior costs nothing in the short term — but it disappears into the abyss.
Unconventional behavior costs a social price in the short term — but the actions live on as story assets in the future.
1. If you pay for the bill at everyone in the table - the short-term reaction is shock and confusion. But in the long term, it’s everyone’s favorite memory of you.
2. If you travel across the world for a friend's birthday, the friend’s initial reaction is: “You don’t have to do that” — but it’s the story they tell at your funeral.
3. If you’re 100% honest with your feedback on people’s business ideas, the short-term reaction is anger — but in the long term, you become one of the few people they trust.
If you study the biographies of the greats or attend the funerals of people you care about — the normal rational behavior is never mentioned.
It’s filled with stories that make the individual unique. It’s all the times they broke out of the median distribution of human behavior.
If you want to create behavioral assets that tell stories for you in the future, you have to pay the price of appearing weird in the present moment.
Your unique brand is defined by your weirdness, eccentricities, and irrational behavior.
If you remove them to fit in with the tribe, you remove all future stories and memories that tribe will tell about you.
Stay weird.