1. Think Before You Follow

Many individuals follow others almost automatically. Sometimes they do so because they desire to take the
path of least resistance. Other times they fear rejection. Or they believe there’s wisdom in doing what everyone
else does. But if you want to succeed, you need to think about what’s best, not what’s popular.
Challenging popular thinking requires a willingness to be unpopular and go outside of the norm. Following
the tragedy of September 11, 2001, for example, few people willingly chose to travel by plane. But that was the
best time to travel: crowds were down, security was up, and airlines were cutting prices. About a month after the
tragedy, my wife, Margaret, and I heard that Broadway shows had lots of seats and many New York hotel rooms
remained empty. Popular thinking said, stay away from New York. We used that as an opportunity. We got
cheap plane tickets to the city, booked a room in a great hotel for about half price, and got tickets to the most
sought-after show: The Producers. As we took our seats in the theater, we sat next to a woman beside herself
with excitement.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here,” she said to us. “I’ve waited so long. This is the best show on Broadway
—and the hardest to get tickets to.” Then she turned to look me in the eye and said, “I’ve had my tickets for a
year and a half, waiting to see this show. How long ago did you get yours?”
“You won’t like my answer,” I replied.
“Oh, come on,” she said. “How long?”
“I got mine five days ago,” I answered. She looked at us in horror. By the way, she was right. It’s one of the
best shows we’ve seen in a while. And we got to see it only because we were willing to go against popular
thinking when everyone else was staying at home.
As you begin to think against the grain of popular thinking, remind yourself that

Unpopular thinking, even when resulting in success, is largely underrated, unrecognized, and

misunderstood.

Unpopular thinking contains the seeds of vision and opportunity.

Unpopular thinking is required for all progress.

The next time you feel ready to conform to popular thinking on an issue, stop and think. You may not want to
create change for its own sake, but you certainly don’t want to blindly follow just because you haven’t thought
about what’s best.

2. Appreciate Thinking Different from Your Own

One of the ways to embrace innovation and change is to learn to appreciate how others think. To do that,
you must continually expose yourself to people different from yourself. My brother, Larry Maxwell—a good
businessman and an innovative thinker—continually challenges popular thinking by thinking differently. He says:

Most of our people in sales and middle management come from businesses with products and

services different from ours. That constantly exposes us to new ways of thinking. We also discourage

our people from active participation in formal business and trade associations and fraternities because

their thinking is quite common. They don’t need to spend lots of time thinking the way everyone else in

the industry does.

As you strive to challenge popular thinking, spend time with people with different backgrounds, education
levels, professional experiences, personal interests, etc. You will think like the people with whom you spend the
most time. If you spend time with people who think out of the box, you’re more likely to challenge popular
thinking and break new ground.

3. Continually Question Your Own Thinking

Let’s face it, any time we find a way of thinking that works, one of our greatest temptations is to go back to