Revelling in Misunderstanding
“…if you’re going to invent, you’ve got to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time. Anything new and different is initially going to be misunderstood. It will be misunderstood by well-meaning critics, who are worried that it might not work out. It will be misunderstood by self-interested critics, who have a profit stream connected to the old way. Either way, if you can’t weather this kind of misunderstanding and criticism, then whatever you do, don’t do anything new” — Jeff Bezos
This is something that has been weighing heavily on my mind for sometime now. I sit in endless meetings, browse through a stream of pointless comments on social media and what appears to be an endless flood of emails, Slack messages or even my phone which seems to be hijacked by such conversations.
I strive through most of them mainly because I fundamentally believe that there’s learning involved in anything that we do as humans but when should that learning end and when should you hold onto your ideas as senseless as they may sound right now? That’s the question which has preoccupied my mind for sometime now.
You might know the work that I do or you might not, a simple Google search will probably solve that issue regardless of which, there’s something to be experienced in the naivety of a stranger reading this so if you are one, I would love to hear your thoughts :)
As most of my writings and talk merge into the ‘public space’ rather than one thing that one person said at one point, I realise that somehow I end up accounting for a sentence I wrote in a talk two years later. That’s probably a good sign but it’s also one that concerns me deeply.
I have always battled with pioneering unconventional ideas and trust me, a lot of times that involves failing at them, spectacular failures mind you which have been invaluable in turning me into this monster who holds onto her ideas even when no one else is standing with me.
This is when it hit me that people aren’t against me but they are against failing as a society
So when someone is resistant to come onboard any of my projects I almost need to deliver a crisis or risk management scenario that acts as a buffer between insanity and feasibility. I don’t think I am risk averse by any means rather I don’t let them dictate my entire future which makes them not as significant as they are to many others.
I could reiterate some of my unpopular views on healthcare, technology, policies around social innovation or even blogging for that matter but I already have enough people in my life whom I deeply value to challenge these thoughts. This post is merely to realign myself to not get persuaded by very sane arguments because ‘sanity is a cosy lie’ as Susan Sontag would put it especially when I have no intention of seeing life as it actually is.
Developing Arrogance
So where do I get my arrogance from to never reconsider my position? Well, let’s not say never — I always work in the intersections whether it’s in the arts, health or tech space. I refuse to believe tech should be dominated by only those who can code, in 2016 we need to redefine the confines of what we consider ‘art’ to be and the rise in invisible, incurable diagnosis has only further reaffirmed the need to conceptualise what we identify as ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ at a time when 1 in 9 women during childbearing years are likely to be diagnosed with an incurable Autoimmune Disease the future is very much a present concern.
As a seven year old who had to make a case for not wanting to go to school almost everyday, much of my arguments were around ‘they think my ideas are mad and they make me feel like I should never voice them out aloud, I don’t want to convince myself that it’s true’. About two decades later, I still stand by that statement. That statement was a cumulative one incited from being kicked out of the science group because the idea of life without DNA as we understand it was declared insane or the time in Media class when I speculated about a future dominated by personalised screens demanding for reinventing journalism to complement a multitude of attention graphs rather than easily quantifiable metrics AKA ‘ROI’ *shudders*. And now, as I speak about the end of ads in marketing conferences which often results in long arguments led by short-term analysis of markets rather than a vision spread across decades into the future.
You can call it arrogance and I graciously nod my head in approval only because even I don’t know what else to call it. History has taught me to believe in my ideas even when nobody else does and I make it very clear, my ideas are not entirely me. I am in awe of Eagleman’s work on brains and us which probably gives me comfort and assurance in moving ahead even when no one believes in me because if it fails spectacularly (that’s always an exciting thing to happen…) then it’s just an idea that failed, it’s not my personal failure. I treat my brain as another me, inside me.
(If this sounds too meta, I highly recommend picking up Incognito by David Eagleman which should clarify any questions you may have)
So ‘how’ do you revel while being misunderstood?
Trying to pose your opinions onto others is less interesting than understanding their concerns and coming up with solutions. And that’s exactly what I do.
If everybody always believed in everything that I proposed life wouldn’t be worth living
I think we should all work from the comfort of our homes than pay rising rents for offices, we had a thriving discussion about this with Buffer. What do these fleeting tweets and random conversations tell me? That there’s certainly a momentum towards accepting the possibility of the impossible or the hitherto understood as insane.
To revel in misunderstanding you must first do something that incites this misunderstanding in the first place. Instead of hiding under the blanket eating ice cream while crying I put out one of my ridiculous ideas into the world and wait for the world to respond. Each rude comment, seemingly irrelevant argument and every ‘attack’ against my ideas help strengthen and affirm that it’s worth pursuing, in fact they also outline the path it should follow to fruition.
Everything that we have come to learn, love and get addicted to (take money, one of the most universal examples) once began as an idiosyncratic idea that we collectively nurtured and gave rise to.
Be misunderstood because it means there’s something for you to venture into and give meaning to your life, I don’t even want to think what would have happened if all of us always agreed with each other.
Hi! I blog here (obviously) and on The Huffington Post. Currently Co-Directing The Goethe-Institut’s MOOC on Arts Management as well as working towards bridging the gap in healthcare for those living with invisible diseases. I speak, write and share things in hopes to make a difference. Like what you read? Let me know on Twitter @bhaesa.
