The Anomaly
The word anomaly has a negative ring for some strange reason? I first came across the word in physics while in the 5th grade… “The anomalous behavior of water…”, where water contracts when heated to the 4”centigrade temperature. I thought that must be a bad thing, an anomaly can’t be good?
Over the years I have heard people quote things like “The chain is only as strong as its weakest link”, “There is no I in team” and so on. So what does that mean for an anomaly, is it good or bad? U bet the jury is evenly divided. A business breakthrough is an anomaly, a smart individual in the middle of mediocrity is an anomaly, ‘A purple cow’ is an anomaly (thanks to Seth Godin), a brand with extra strong equity is an anomaly.
So how do institutions cope and capitalize on anomalies, good or bad? The frame work is called culture. Culture is like a cover for the book with anomalies. No CEO in the world has risen out of mediocrity, no organization has set itself apart from the pack by following the trodden road, and they have all been anomalies in their own right. But in doing so they have always bound themselves down by the ropes of culture within the organization and institution they have associated with.
Culture can some times be a shirt made of iron that inhibits these anomalies, it is often unfortunate to see how those institutions fail to achieve their fullest potential.
