Thinking Traps - Part 7: The Wake Trap

Even major trends have the characteristic of sweeping along everything that cannot defend itself—or does not wish to stand against them. Many have marveled at where fashion has driven them, even when it contradicted their deepest convictions.

Sounds logical, but we all know that history is just a sequence of such errors. Group pressure is the driver for this. And it lies deep within humans. Far down in Maslow's pyramid is the fear of being excluded from the community. Just a few thousand years ago, this meant certain death. Only those who largely conformed survived. And that is why we descendants of these opportunists are all genetically inclined to drift along rather than seek our own path.

This is why we also follow trends that we would never think of on our own. Simply because we unconsciously behave in a way that the group expects of us. Instead of living our convictions and forging our own path. But that comes at a price.

Because anyone who stands out from the crowd, for example by publicly asserting that constructive collaboration does not mesh well with home office, gets stigmatized. Just ask Elon Musk.

What does that mean?

The good news is that all trends will outrun themselves sooner or later. In this sense, I want to encourage you to escape the wake. And to stand up for your own values, which you must first find and know. The approaching mild summer evenings are the ideal opportunity to reflect on this. Or as bestselling author Ute Ehrhardt has paraphrased: Good people go to heaven, uncomfortable ones go everywhere.