Somebody Less Like Us

“I didn’t hear you say you’re sorry, the fault must be mine.  I wish you all the best of luck at finding somebody more like you.”

–     Lyric from “Somebody More Like You” by Nickel Creek

A couple years back, She Who Is Awesome got season tickets to the tapings of the Public TV show, Austin City Limits.  The night Nickel Creek played, I almost gave our tickets to employees because A) I’d never heard of them, B) they were billed as country, folk and bluegrass and C) I’d never heard of them.  (Repetition is a great way to make a point, you see….)

What.  A.  Show.  Exceptional talent, great writing and lyrics and even a bidness lesson on managing our risks.  Look, I am in the banking technology business, and the only other area more dominated by white males is the Baseball Hall of Fame before Jackie Robinson.

What do we do, as humans? We seek out somebody more like us.  “Oh, Dan — he’s always trying to change something.  Wish he’d just shut his pie hole,” we say.

“Why must you argue all the time, Randy?  Why can’t you be (SPOILER ALERT!  DANGEROUS PHRASE) more like “us.”  Cue the ominous organ music and hang on to your popcorn, it’s get very scary when we seek group-speak.

Here’s a difference making idea.  Find someone who categorically disagrees with you.  Have a reasoned, measured, well-intentioned debate on the topic and you’ll likely find five or six platforms upon which a friendship — business and capitalistic, or the regular kind — can be built.  When recruiting, look for somebody less like us.  Different views, different perspectives, difference made.

When we encounter people who are different or think differently than we do, our instinct is to tuck and run.  Our option is to stay and grow.