The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an attempt to provide equal rights for black Americans. It expressly prohibited discrimination in voting, education, and public facilities. Although fraught with lots of implementation issues, integration in schools changed many people’s mindset about other races. It is human nature to like “like-minded people”.
We often erect artificial barriers to segregate “non-like minded people” to keep them out of our network circles. When you understand that our views of the world and how we see opportunities are colored by the company we keep, you can see that by not venturing outside your village of friends leads to groupthink, and prevents exposure to new ideas.
In the book Who Owns the Ice House, by Clifton Taulbert and Garry Schoeniger, Uncle Cleve, a black man living in the Mississippi Delta in the 1950’s, refused to be subjected to groupthink. Rather than work in the cotton fields like everyone else, he chose to break out and became an entrepreneur: an ice distributor. Since entrepreneurs know that ideas and knowledge are the real drivers of success, they know that groupthink is their mortal enemy. Rather than be insulated from new ideas, entrepreneurs look for every opportunity to connect with people outside their clique.
What are you doing to reach out and expose yourself to new people and ideas?
