In today’s fast paced world customisation has become a key word. All companies are trying to modify their products to meet the needs of as many individual customers as they can. It is quite possible that one day we will have products that have been modified to meet the need of each individual customer. Dell, for example, is one company that has tried to customise its products since its inception.
But, why is there a need for customisation?
The needs arises because each human being is unique. In spite of the physical resemblance, each one of the six billion individuals on this earth is unique. If you think that isn’t the case, then consider finger prints – though we all have fingers that are alike, and perform almost the same tasks, yet everyone has a unique finger print.
Most of the times, however, we forget that we are unique. The main reason for this is that the society wants us to conform to the guidelines and principles set by them. Religion and rituals are one example of how society tries to make an individual conform to the societal norms.
There are a variety of reasons – justified and unjustified – for a society to make an individual conform to the societal norms. Those reasons, however, are not a part of this post. This post is about what happens when we begin to conform to the societal norms.
When an individual starts to follow the societal norms, the individual begins to ask less and less questions. Things are then done, not because he needs them to be done but because he is told he needs them to be done. Even the needs of an individual then become defined by the society. Isn’t it often said that every child is curious, but that child begins to ask fewer and fewer questions as he grows up? This is because as a child grows up, he gets influenced by a society that discourages asking questions.
This, in turn, kills creativity. Creativity feeds on uniqueness and original thoughts. Conformity to the norms tends to eliminate any original thoughts you might be having. A thought you are having, for example, may be against the established religious principles of your times, so you just don’t let your brain have that thought. It must be borne in mind, however, that most established religions of today are not as old as mankind. One human being, whom we call a prophet today, got tired of the religious beliefs of the time and started a new religion. He was original and unique, and he did not let the society tell him otherwise. Soon, he had followers by the thousands.
This is the funny thing. If we look closer we find that in the long run, society appreciates and worships original. But, this very society tends to stop anyone who tries to be original. Maybe, it is the inertia of the society that makes it do so, and an individual has to fight against the inertia of a whole society to stand up for what he believes. Most of us find that hard to do, don’t we?
Most good things in life come at a price. Creativity is no exception. You can’t conform to the rules of the society and be creative at the same time. You need to stand up for what you believe in. You need to be original and unique. You need to have the U(uniqueness) – factor.
Do you have the U-factor?
(Image courtesy: duchesssa from sxc.hu)
To be unique requires in the todays society some courage. Without that you never cant be unique – you will vanish silently. This is the faith of so many unique ppl. out there in the world – in ancient times and now. But thank God there are some ppl. who can stand up for their uniqueness and hold on it too.
And i thank God that i have met so many of them. 🙂 It gives stamina to fight for the own uniqueness.
Fully agree with you Dell growing at rapid growth. Most of the people prefer for Dell’s PC and Laptops for their personal and business need. The main thing behind it customer satisfaction and quality products..