The
Principles of Individuality
The
first principle of individuality is jaggedness.
Something is jagged if it contains multiple dimensions, and these dimensions
are weakly related to each other. In the language of mathematics this would be
called a weak correlation. Unfortunately, according to Rose, one dimensional
averagarianism thinking has caused us to believe weak correlations mean
something that they do not.
A
(0.4) correlation between two dimensions means that we have managed to explain
16% of the behaviors in each dimension. Do we really understand something if we
can only explain 16% of it? Well, if our ultimate goal is efficiency and the
system, then 16% appears to be enough for most people since Quetelet started
applying his astronomy math to human beings. However, if our goal is to
identify and nurture individual excellence, then wouldn’t you agree that a 16%
correlation isn’t enough to be basing decisions about ALL human beings?
Initially,
Microsoft, Google and Deloitte evaluated individuals by ranking them. They too
fell into Galton’s belief that if someone was good at one thing, then they must
be good at most things. But, they soon discovered that talent can’t be boiled
down to one number and then compared to the average because it’s one
dimensional thinking.
When
organizations embrace jaggedness, like these companies above eventually did,
they often feel like they have found a way to uncover diamonds in the rough or
to discover hidden talent. However, the real difficulty is not in finding new
ways to discover talent, but it is in getting rid of the one-dimensional
thinking blinders that prevented us from seeing it all along. And even more
importantly, Rose believes that the blinders that we need to take off the most
are the ones we use when looking at ourselves. When we recognize jaggedness, we
are not only better able to open doors for our own children, students,
athletes, and employees, but we’re also able to open doors for ourselves… And
that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you agree?
Dan Blanchard is an
award-winning author, speaker and educator. To learn more about Dan please
visit his website at: www.DanBlanchard.net.
Thanks.
