12 Quotes – Doing the Unconventional and Winning in Business

Status quo is a fallacy; to break out from the pack and win in business you’ve got to do the unconventional, what hasn’t been done before.

12 Unconventional Quotes from Extraordinary Leaders

Even the most innovative entrepreneurs can fall into complacency and sameness with competitors once their business is up and running. These twelve unconventional quotes are a great reminder that to win – and keep winning – in business, requires a willingness to do what has not been done before.

Business Leaders Can Overcome the Status Quo by Taking these 12 Unconventional Quotes to Heart

“People will always try to stop you doing the right thing if it is unconventional.” – Warren Buffett

“Unconventional thinking is approaching a problem and asking, ‘Why not?’” – Eli Broad

“Progress has always been driven by a sense of adventure and unconventional thinking.” – Andre Geim

“Committees kill unconventional ideas for a living.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.” – Hans F. Hansen

“If we’re going to have an unconventional budget, we probably need an unconventional process to get there.” – Anthony Foxx

“Be creative. Use unconventional thinking. And have the guts to carry it out.” – Lee Iacocca

“The only people who stand out are those who want to.” – John Morgan

“Fortune favors the bold.” – Virgil circa. 70 BC

“I get inspiration from stories which are unconventional.” – Anil Kapoor

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” – Albert Einstein

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” – Dr. Seuss

Exposing the Fallacy of Status Quo

Ignore the naysayers! Just because something hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Status quo isn’t just a fallacy, it’s a recognized cognitive bias. It’s the tendency people have that leads to sayings like, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and “When in doubt, don’t.”

The problem is, sooner or later one of your competitors is going to see something that you perceive as “not broke,” only instead of moving on to something else, they’re going to see the small cracks. They are going to figure out how to fix it, because they’re going to look at it from a different perspective, with fresh eyes, with a willingness to do the unconventional in order to make progress.

You might even be that innovative someone, looking at established companies and traditional products and services, knowing that you can improve on the status quo. However, the fact is that humans have a tendency to conform. Before you give way to the temptation to “do business” in a way that is less than unconventional, remember this: The status quo always benefits someone. In the case of established businesses, status quo benefits the leaders. To compete and win, you’ve got to adopt and pursue a mindset of continuous improvement and experimentation.

In Your Competitor Isn’t Your Real Competition, Status Quo Is, Forbes contributor Amy Morin suggests that while sales professionals often assume they lost sales to competitors, it’s not the main reason that leads didn’t convert. According to Morin, “About 60 percent of qualified leads fall by the wayside because the customer doesn’t find value in purchasing something new and therefore, they decide to forgo any type of change.”

Think about it.

We live in an upgrade-friendly consumer culture, thanks to the unconventional thinking of tech icons like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others innovators who have conditioned us to respond when the newer, better, faster, smarter, stronger version of something becomes available. It’s unconventional abilities, features, benefits, accessories, add-ons, results, brand stories, and other characteristics that move consumers and B2B buyers to act, not equivalence.

When in doubt, do is an approach that isn’t always comfortable. It forces us to challenge not only the traditions and boundaries of others, but of ourselves as well. It’s the only type of thinking that begets a culture of innovation, the type of culture that smashes the old in favor of a better, faster, smarter, stronger new.

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