“Square peg in a round hole” is an idiomatic expression which describes the unusual individualist who could not fit into a niche of their society.
The metaphor was originated by Sydney Smith in “On the Conduct of the Understanding”, one of a series of lectures on moral philosophy that he delivered at the Royal Institution in 1804–06:
I see a direct connection with this metaphor for the innovation sector, the round hole of following processes, stage gates, rules and timelines within a business and then being the square peg trying to push the boundaries for even greater innovations. These two very opposite needs and characteristics that naturally fight each other, either being free to create and explore, or restricted to ensure results are delivered in full and on time.
Too often there must be a compromise of one or the other and hitting that ‘Sweet Spot’ is the hardest part to align with your budgets, timelines and customer needs. Too much freedom and it will be hard to deliver the results, too many restrictions and the innovation will be more incremental, not game changing.
What does this metaphor have to do with being unique in innovation?
At 14 I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and told I could not go to university or return to college and finish my studies. Instead, I went straight to work at 16 as soon as I recovered enough, developing a huge hunger to explore every opportunity I could find, after effectively being almost bed ridden or home bound for 2 years. This somewhat different start to my working life resulted in me developing what I perceived as weaknesses that I would have to address so that I could progress further in my career.
Nearly some 30 years later in innovation and a recent relationship with a large global customer team made me to fully embrace my quirks and weaknesses, because all of these have given me great insights, experience and unique strengths to exceed far beyond what I was told I would ever achieve all those years ago. This relationship with the customer helped me to understand, that what I considered to be my weaknesses, is not always viewed the same in another’s eyes and that it is not about me necessarily trying to change myself to suit others, but meeting the right people, manager or business that could recognise these strengths and my uniqueness.
When we look at innovating a new product to sell, we do not try to make it average, ok in all areas. We look for the unique selling points, what makes it different, how do they solve the customer’s pains or needs, what makes the product stand out. This led me to think, why do we place such an emphasis on ourselves to be perfect, having no weaknesses? Understanding you have weaknesses is certainly not a bad thing, but focusing on them at the detriment to your uniqueness certainly is.
To me, social media and the internet has a part to play in this desire for perfection, which starts to erode what makes us unique. With its constant feed of fantasy homes, high paying jobs, cars, clothes and holidays, making reality look undesirable and boring, fuelling this desire for perfectionism in all areas of our lives.
In search of this perfection and removing weaknesses, we see ourselves sometimes changing significantly to fit in with companies’ policies or managers expectations, it breaks the very thing that makes us unique, essentially our key selling point. To be innovative and push the boundaries, you cannot place someone of a creative nature in a strict, clinical, and controlled environment, whilst expecting them to produce disruptive or ground-breaking creations. It is not healthy for the individual and certainly not for the company, as neither get the best results from the relationship.
To me, creativity is a way of life and something that is in my blood, but what have I learned that is unique and different about me? My attention to detail, that I thought was a weakness and when combined with my passion for innovation, has enabled me to spot opportunities my competitors missed. The second weakness I perceived is my passion in innovation workshops or customer experience events, I find them so inspiring and sometimes felt in the past I came across too strongly, yet I have received positive feedback from customers for bringing energy and inspiring innovations. Another of my unique areas, is how much I enjoy hands on experience, which has shaped my whole design career by not sitting behind a desk, but understanding what really happens on the pack bench, die press or in the supply chain. All of these ‘weaknesses’ I saw were embraced by this new customer team, to the point that it was a significant part of the reason the account nearly doubled in size within 12 months.
However, it is also vitally important to remember when these unique areas or perceived weaknesses become out of control. This can result in a strength becoming a serious issue, which can not only affect you mentally, but also physically. For me, it was understanding when perfectionism and attention to detail can see you working long hours adding that extra 5%, that unfortunately nobody but yourself will notice. This is not embracing your uniqueness but unfortunately driving you down a path of self-destruction.
As a creative, you should never feel like you are a “Square peg trying to fit in a round hole”, seeking perfection or changing yourself beyond recognition to suit others, it is not healthy for you mentally or physically. Many businesses are still not aware of just how significant the importance of the environment, management and processes are to a creative individual and how much it will affect not only the quantity, but also quality of their innovations. The most successful businesses I see are the ones working to their creatives strengths and not only recognising, but also embracing and encouraging their uniqueness to develop game changing solutions.
The famous Steve Jobs quote sums this up for me about embracing the uniqueness of an employee:
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do,”
Be proud of who you are, don’t be afraid to be yourself, find a business or role that can support and utilise your skills, insights or experience within their strategy and plans, but above all appreciates your ‘Square Peg’ uniqueness.