Self-Consciousness
On one of my recent, lengthy road trips I was listening to the audio book version of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, What The Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. While each of the articles/essays included is a truly excellent read (or, in this case, “listen”) there was a line from the Preface which struck me so profoundly that I nearly pulled over. That may have over-sold it, but here is the quote:
“…self-consciousness is the enemy of ‘interestingness.’”
Source: Gladwell, M. (2009). What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. New York, NY: Hackette Book Group.
Gladwell was referring to the fact that people at the top of organizations, companies, and governments have to be guarded with their responses to questions and with interviewers. This is a form of self-consciousness. When people are focused on what they are supposed to say, they rarely say anything of real value. They censor themselves as they go. It is an easy idea to agree with and one that, taken in a different context, has a great deal of meaning for my line of work.
Self-conscious performers rarely do well. Audiences know when that is the case. Focusing, as a performer, on how you’re doing instead of what you’re doing on stage leads to failure. Being self-conscious has never created anything truly remarkable. Case and point… here’s a YouTube video that wouldn’t have existed if those involved were overly self-conscious:
It would have been very easy for a “higher up” at The Cancer Foundation to kibosh this idea. In fact, someone probably tried. Any number of reasons could have been given; it won’t work, it doesn’t reach enough people, there’s no numbers on which to judge success. All of those reasons are rooted in the fear that this concept would have reflected poorly upon someone. That’s a self-conscious concern if I ever heard one. It’s a concern that, if acted on, would have killed a marvellous idea and prevented reaching a new demographic through a medium that wasn’t being utilized.
When creating new ideas, entertaining an audience, or giving an interview, “…self-consciousness is the enemy of ‘interestingness’,” not to mention the enemy of creativity and advancement.
