![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/ScoutSalute.jpg\" "\\"ScoutSalute\\"")
<\/a>When I look at what’s happening today I’d suggest that our problem isn’t a scarcity of rebels. \u00a0Everyone is a rebel. \u00a0We all have a social media platform and we’re all ‘mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!’<\/p>\nBut if everyone’s a rebel, you can’t have a rebellion. \u00a0Just like the world of Lake Wobegon where everyone is above average, creating a culture where everyone is leading (or thinks they are) and no one is following (or is capable of doing so) can’t a movement make.<\/p>\n
By venerating the rebel we risk\u00a0eviscerating\u00a0the heart and soul of what makes every society, organization, and business strong — the dutiful footsoldier who is dependable, reliable, trustworthy and … yes … predictable.<\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we promote lemming-like, do-what-you-are-told without question society. \u00a0But lowly obedience – simply doing what others ask of you – is a dying art.<\/p>\n
Consider the teacher. \u00a0When I teach all I really want of the person at the other end is to do what I ask them to. \u00a0Read the book. \u00a0Complete the drill. \u00a0Learn the lesson. \u00a0Great that you ask questions and all that. \u00a0But at the end of the day if everything is up for grabs, nothing get grasped.<\/p>\n
Consider the parent. \u00a0OK. \u00a0You know that your children at some point will need to rebel. \u00a0You know that they need to chart their own way. \u00a0And you know that they will be stupid. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because you were young and stupid once too.\u00a0 There was a time that whatever Mom or Dad said, you did the opposite. \u00a0And now you’re a parent. \u00a0And you \u00a0plead with your children “Please! \u00a0Just do this … Just this once … Trust me … I know what will happen if you don’t … Just trust me on this one.” \u00a0But no … you’re fighting a losing battle<\/p>\n
Why do we denigrate the obedient and venerate the rebel?<\/p>\n
Here’s a couple of possibilities:<\/p>\n
1. The great thing about being a rebel is that you don’t have to be ‘for’ anything. \u00a0The rebel knows only one thing – what I am against.\u00a0 That is why I’m a rebel! \u00a0Down with this! \u00a0Down with that! \u00a0“Tear down this wall!” \u00a0What replaces all this? \u00a0Beats the hell out of me! \u00a0I’m just a rebel. \u00a0I tear things down. \u00a0I’m not responsible for building things back up.<\/p>\n
Which leads me to my second point …<\/p>\n
2. \u00a0Obedience requires commitment and\u00a0perseverance\u00a0– not really popular things these days. \u00a0We don’t like difficult. \u00a0Difficult is, well, difficult! \u00a0The great thing about being a rebel and being against something is that no one holds you much accountable on what you are for. \u00a0The problem with obedience is that it, by definition, means you have to be ‘for’ something and willing to both ‘follow’ that something as well as defend that something. \u00a0Following is not cool. \u00a0Defending is hard work. \u00a0Obedience is difficult. \u00a0Difficult is not fun.<\/p>\n
So what does any of this say anything about business and brands?\u00a0 I’d suggest that some of the great brands we often consider ‘rebels’ are not rebels at all. \u00a0They are brands that are obedient to their values and instill obedience in their supporters. \u00a0Virgin, Apple, Zappos, Trader Joe’s, Facebook. \u00a0These are not ‘anything goes’ type places. \u00a0No, they aren’t rebel at all. \u00a0They just have a point of view and are slavishly obedient to it. \u00a0They are brands of followers. \u00a0They are brands supported by people who do as they are told, in the way they are told to do it. \u00a0They are obedient.<\/p>\n
So here’s to obedience. \u00a0It is neither boring nor dull.\u00a0 Rather it requires conviction and discipline …\u00a0Which is why obedience can be very unpopular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Obedience gets a bad rap. \u00a0We denigrate the ‘obedient’ one as someone lacking in spunk, spark, creativity and leadership. \u00a0Think about it. \u00a0If someone said, “oh, so-and-so, he’s sooo obedient!” \u00a0What would you think? \u00a0Something between ‘eew!’ and ‘yuck’! We idolize the \u00a0rebel. \u00a0We create myths about the \u00a0independent souls who reject instruction, laugh at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":790,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}