In high school - where labels seem important - I was considered a “geek” because I wasn’t like everyone else. I was six feet tall in the seventh grade (weird.) My mom made a lot of my clothes (cringe). I was good at basketball (cool) but even better in debate (uncool.) I was never asked to prom or homecoming. If American Pie is your guide, I missed an enormous slice of the high school experience.
I love geeks.
Geeks are those who breakdance to their own beat and don’t follow the herd, just because it’s moving. The “popular” kids go along to get along; they rely on others’ acceptance and approval. Geeks are self-directed; they care less about approval from others and more about being true to what drives them.
Geeks stand out. And sometimes, they win.
Bill Gates is a geek. Warren Buffet is a geek. (Fill in your own geek-hero names here.)
In every profession and every city, there are geeks.
Last week, Traci Fenton unfurled her annual WorldBlu Awards, highlighting the companies most of us have never heard of, because the popular media finds them, well, a little too geeky . These companies‘ act of wierdness? Using democratic principles to lead, compete, and conquer.
Is your workplace weird enough to make the WorldBlu list? Check out The WorldBlu 10 Principles of Organizational Democracy™
