Brainwashed By Seth Godin – A Generation Y View
January 20, 2010 – 9:27 am | by Daryl Tay
Cogs in a machine
Seth Godin has a great 14 page pdf on ChangeThis titled Brainwashed.
What brainwashing does he speak of?
..to teach you that you’re average. That compliant work is the best way to a reliable living. That creating average stuff for average people again and again is a safe and easy way to get what you want
Believe you me, no one understands and relates to this statement more than someone who grew up in the Singaporean education system. The system itself is great (I think I benefited from a stressful education) but the mentality of playing it safe is overwhelming.
And so generations of students turned into generations of cogs… We were brainwashed into fitting in, and then discovered that the economy wanted people who stood out instead
Too true isn’t it? That’s why the idea of personal branding resonates so much with Generation Y. We’re not here to fit into pigeon-holed roles. We love dealing with other people who stand out instead of people who blend into the background. It’s a delight to meet someone passionate about their beliefs, even if you don’t share them.
You were being trained to be a compliant cog, someone who could mindlessly follow instructions as opposed to seeking out innovation and surprise
Yes we were. No one is asking anyone to disregard instructions, but it doesn’t mean we should follow them blindly. Just because the your boss receives something that is different from her point of view, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
The rest of the article is really good, and provides actionable tips on reinventing yourself, mostly using social media. Read it. And perhaps more importantly, put it into action. I know it’s something I’m going to be referring to every three months or so just to remind me that I shouldn’t be a cog in the machine.
At this point I want to congratulate my friend Ping from Pixel Pastry who arguably did not get brainwashed and has been unveiled as junior art director at Tribal DDB at the ripe old age of 23. Congrats!
[photo from Elsie Esq]
Tags: average, average people, average stuff, brainwashed, changethis, cogs, compliant cogs, compliant work, disregard instructions, fitting in, following instructions blindly, innovation, junior art director, mindlessly following instructions, passionate, pdf, personal branding, pigeon holes, pigeon-holed, pixel pastry, playing it safe, reliable living, seth godin, singaporean education system, social media, standing out, stressful education, tribal ddb
