Defy Convention

Convention is comfortable.

It tells you to wait your turn.
Follow the proven path.
Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Blend in, improve slightly, and repeat. It rewards predictability. It protects the system. It keeps things running—until the system stops working.

Unconvention, on the other hand, is rarely comfortable.

It’s messy.
Uncertain.
Often invisible at first.

It doesn’t wait for permission. It doesn’t ask, “What’s allowed?” It asks, “Why is this the only way?”

“What problem are we actually solving?”
“What if the rules don’t apply?”
“What if I built something no one’s seen before?”

Every breakthrough we admire today began as an unconventional decision:

• Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon, defied rules, tradition, and outright physical interference—just to be seen as a competitor.
• Muhammad Yunus, an economist, reimagined banking by offering tiny loans to the poor with no collateral—birthing microfinance and lifting millions out of poverty.
• Dick Fosbury, a lanky high schooler, flipped over the high jump bar backward—launching a new standard in athletics.
• Chester Carlson, a patent clerk tired of manual duplication, invented the Xerox process from his home kitchen—with over 20 companies rejecting him before it took off.
• Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), rejected by 27 publishers, refused to write “normal” children’s books—and created a category all his own.

The pattern? When conventional tools don't work, remarkable people build new ones. When the gate is locked, they don't wait—they build a side door.