It's different!

I am sure you would have heard this phrase “It’s different!” at least a gazillion times.

During the premier of a latest movie, a director was explaining how different the movie was from all other movies ever made. At least to my knowledge this is what every director has had to say for every movie that has ever been made. Also, if you notice, any product or service that is ever brought out to the market has claimed some differentiator or the other. Sometimes the public spat between competitors has gotten as ugly as the recent one between two health drinks (Complan and Horlicks).

This fixation to differentiate is not restricted to particular person, product/service or geography. This has got to do with everybody and everything! Is it really necessary that one should differentiate from other? Can’t we sell anything [be it ourselves or a product/service] without differentiating? Should we believe that “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently…”? Is it a taboo to be similar?

I did read up quite a bit on this. The journey took me to fascinating pieces of wisdom ranging from the dictionary meaning of difference, to differential calculus, Aristotle, genetics, search for identity, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), psychology and philosophy. Had I not decided to stop and just pen down my thoughts, it would probably never have come to a logical conclusion!

Let me walk you through some instances; provide insights into the material which I read during this research and share my thoughts on this topic.

Need to differentiate: A phenomenon that has gained significance since the start of Neolithic era. It is driven by the two most important objectives of survival and creating an identity for oneself.

It is ingrained in our human DNA to differentiate. In a recent article published in the Science Daily on Dec 22^nd 2008, some Israeli scientists have discovered the gene responsible for differentiation.

It seems that, at a very early stage of human development, all cells of the embryo are identical, but are very flexible and carry within them the potential to become any tissue type, whether it be muscle, skin, liver or brain. This cell differentiation process begins at about the time that the embryo settles into the uterus. By activating a certain set of genes, the embryo can make muscle cells. By turning on a different set, these same immature cells can become liver. Other gene sets are responsible for additional tissues.

Though this discovery is very important for organ replacement and related medical advancements, it is quite intriguing to know that the differentiation process is very much part of our DNA.

Given that we need differentiation to be created and survive in the first place, let us see why we need to use differentiation as a technique to create an identity? Let us use some analytical tool say “Shame”!!!

Surprised? Read on…

This example is close to my heart. As an engineering student whenever, I used to attend inter college cultural and symposiums, I observed that the Arts and Science graduates were always the best when it came to cultural events like fashion shows, orchestra, singing, dancing, painting etc., I used to wonder as to why the engineering students lagged behind in this effort.

Unlike other parts of the world where people choose Arts and Science as a subject of study, in our part of the world, it is only by chance that they end up in Arts and Science at least a majority of them. So, it is a shame to be an arts and science graduate in Indian society which values children / students based only on their academic credentials only and nothing else.

In his book “Psychology of Shame”, Gershen Kaufman notes both positive and negative impacts of shame. In my opinion this case is a classic example of positive impact of shame. The quest for differentness / separateness amongst the arts and science graduates is amplified by the shame which was inflicted upon them. In their striving for separateness / differentness, the students acquired mastery / competence in other fields which showed up in the results of the cultural events thus helping them create an identity for themselves.

It was in this analysis; I understood that, the two factors behind “individuation” [or self differentiation] are (1) The need for separation / differentness and (2) Competence/ Mastery required in achieving the differentness.

Probably the understanding of this concept is what prompted Rosser Reeves to innovate and come up with the concept of Unique Selling Proposition (USP). He believed that if an advertisement / commercial brought out the “unique proposition” in a product / service, it could position the brand at a convenient point in consumer’s minds, enhance the sales, and even make consumers switch from other brands. Today, every other advertisement positions a product/service as unique, different!

These instances were sufficient enough for me to understand the need, significance and evolution and implementation of differentiation. Now, my question is, does differentiation create only positive responses? Doesn’t look like it…

I have also come across some strong arguments against creating differences and identity. Look at the major conflicts around the world. They are primarily based on human, regional, inter / intra religious and political differences. There are other benign conflicts as well in education, business, sports which engulf our lives when they touch us.

In the quest to differentiate, we create end up creating a world of differences. So what do we do? We start diversity training!!

Since Obama’s election to Presidency, there is a renewed focus on diversity! Every business, school and institution is working on imparting diversity training to its associates. However, diversity tolerance doesn’t come in a day. Laurie B Lippin co-author of the recently published book “Understanding Whiteness/Unraveling Racism” says…It takes a life time of training to appreciate diversity and differences. Firstly one needs to understand who they are and what their preferences are before they appreciate someone else different preference. John Kremer and Ian Schermbrucker renowned psychologists in a brilliant article say, “Yes, you can be forced to walk in someone else’s shoes, but when your abiding memory is simply that they are uncomfortable then the purpose of the exercise may be lost.”

Conflicts due to human differences have consumed so much resources and probably much more to level them.

As, we can see differentiators have created both excitement and contempt. Now that we have seen both sides of the coin, what is it that I feel about differentiation? In my opinion, it is necessary for an entity to create an identity. However, differentiation need not be the only way to accomplish it. We should not look at differentiation as a strategy to make up for our current situation or inherent flaws. We need to critically analyze at each stage in an initiative/self evolution as to if it absolutely necessary to differentiate, to achieve The Goal… as someone said, “In a struggle to create an identity we develop differences... in more ways than not it inhibits growth and we end up fighting the differences rather than really appreciating them and learning from them...”

Rosser Reeves the man who coined the term USP, himself believed that “It was a waste of money to claim uniqueness that doesn't exist…Money would be better spent building some kind of meaningful advantage into a product before launching a costly advertising campaign to promote it.”

In essence, a quality product or service, good intent/nature of people, sincerity in search for excellence and similar genuine efforts in all walks of life will definitely stand out and carve an identity for itself. Rather than spend our time and effort on creating differences and differentiators, we should use differentiators as a supplement to the uniqueness that we are, and of which we create.

Before embarking on this journey of discovery of differences, I sincerely did not expect that a simple word “difference” would have been so much discussed, researched and deliberated upon. Now that I have shared some thoughts for you to ponder, let me continue with my exploration. For those who thought this article is going to be nothing different than my earlier posts, I hope to have made a difference!

- Ciao