In the world today, there are certain myths that still stand up…despite being completely wrong:
- People make decisions based on logic.
- Impressions matter a lot in advertising.
- Change happens suddenly.
The challenge with any of these myths is that they take hold and they restrict your ability to think creatively.
Recently, I was having coffee with a friend in DC, and he was telling me that one of the challenges that the private sector faces in the District is the fact that the grooves of people’s thinking are too deeply embedded. Meaning that because certain things have always been rewarded, in times of change, people needlessly suffer because they don’t have the capacity to think creatively.
In any city, this is likely the case because we have far too many company towns.
But that’s getting away from the idea of myths.
Because myths are ways to create certainty where certainty doesn’t really exist.
The thing about myths is that by using them, we enable ourselves to tell a story to ourselves that revolves around something we feel comfortable with.
I think there is a flip side to myths that we should be looking at. Instead of asking why the myth is so…maybe we should be thinking about and be asking ourselves, what if the myth isn’t correct? Or, why isn’t this myth correct?
For far too many of us, the myth is a place for safety.
The only problem with this is that there isn’t safety in the myth, there is even more danger.
That’s why we have to retire certain myths for good.
What myths are you still living with?