The majority is always wrong
About groupthink, conformism and the courage to think differently.
Paul Rulkens said it in a TEDx talk in Maastricht: the majority is always wrong. Not as a mathematical statement, but as an observation about innovation.
Every breakthrough started as a minority position. The earth revolves around the sun — heresy. Washing hands before surgery — ridiculous. Women can vote — dangerous. The Internet is becoming something — naive.
David Ogilvy put it more elegantly: "Search all the parks in all your cities; you'll find no statues of committees." There is no statue of compromise anywhere.
This is not a plea for being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. Most dissenting opinions are simply wrong. The point is slightly different: the fear of deviation is a bigger problem than the deviation itself.
In organizations this is called groupthink. In politics it is called polarization — because polarization is not having different opinions, but no longer being allowed to have different opinions. The consensus is forced, not achieved.
I recognize it in my own work as an advisor. The moments when I was most useful were when I said something the client didn't want to hear. The moments when I was least useful were the moments when I was moving along.
The majority is not always wrong. But if you find yourself agreeing with something just because everyone agrees with it — then it's time to stop and think.