What If You’re a Genius Lesson 1.01

A challenge exists in our individual-to-institution relationships these days. What has kept our institutions viable and funded over the years is our standardization as membership grew in number, grew more diffuse, and evolved its history. That’s what we seem to think. Periodic, systematic disruption of the status quo is what really maintains the viability of institutions. This disruption serves to allow innovation of ideas and some modicum of lasting power to diverse voices and insights that extends beyond the disruption.

An example is the 19^th amendment to the constitution. It was considered normal and standard for men solely to hold the right to vote. It was not standardization that brought this to light. In fact, the court case Minor v. Happersett was settled law confirming that the US constitution did not give women the right to vote. Yet, we promote the idea that there is virtue in maintaining the status quo or “the way it has always been done.”

We don’t promote the conformist view openly for the most part. We perpetuate it within the rules, structures, and norms of the institutions. We tell members of these institutions to maintain the traditions we ourselves grew to know. We shame those who vary no matter whether their variation has merit or produces results. We even pass this view on to our children with the outcome that they seek desperately to be normal and similar. To be different, in their eyes, is to risk ridicule, censure, or worse. I call this reality individualism. The solution is individuation. But, implementing the solution is a challenge when most are happy with, or at least resigned, to the way things are.

In lesson one, we lead up to the introduction of four identifications, the Genius ID. We examine the resistance to this innovation with the following objectives:

1. Identify the institutional challenge to the innovation suggested by the Genius ID.
2. Articulate the solution as applied to institutions to provide a sustainable context for implementation of the Genius ID.
3. Explore assessment and quick assessment of Genius ID for application within a brief context.
4. Delineate the characteristics of each of four Genius ID identifications.