I was thinking today about a recurring theme I call go the opposite.
When the world, the market, or the people around you are all heading in one direction, you should at least seriously consider going the other way. Not because the crowd is always wrong, and not because being different is automatically better. Sometimes the crowd is heading in the right direction for good reasons. But when everyone begins using the same strategy, following the same advice, and competing in the same way, an opportunity often appears in the opposite direction.
A good example is unsolicited communication.
Yesterday, I received a handwritten note delivered through Priority Mail. It must have cost the sender at least ten dollars to send it. The message itself was not particularly exciting. It was another real estate agent hoping to convince me to sell my house.
I receive five to ten of these solicitations every week through a variety of methods. There are postcards, flyers, door hangers, emails, text messages, and occasionally a plastic bag containing a business card and a rock thrown onto the driveway. Most of them are mass-produced. They are designed for maximum coverage at the lowest possible cost. The strategy is simple: send enough messages to enough people and eventually someone will respond.
But this particular agent did something different.
He went personal. He chose a direct and relatively expensive method of entry. He wrote the letter by hand. He addressed me personally. He even mentioned something unique that he liked about our front yard. That part was perhaps slightly creepy, but it also proved that he had actually seen the property and had not simply purchased my name from a mailing list.
I read the entire letter. I did not immediately throw it away. In fact, I stored it for future reference.
If I decide to sell my house, there is a reasonable chance I will call this person.
Out of perhaps one hundred agents trying to get my attention, one agent chose a different path—and he succeeded.
That small experience caused me to start asking a larger question:
What am I doing simply because everyone else is doing it?
When email became inexpensive, everyone started sending more email. Now most inboxes are overwhelmed, and the value of each individual email has declined. When social media made publishing easy, everyone started producing content. Now the challenge is no longer gaining access to an audience. The challenge is getting anyone to stop scrolling long enough to care.
Technology continually makes communication faster, cheaper, and more scalable. The natural response is to increase volume. Send more messages. Automate more outreach. Create more content. Reach more people.
But perhaps the opposite strategy is becoming more valuable.
Instead of sending one thousand generic emails, send ten thoughtful letters.
Instead of trying to attract everyone, deeply serve a small group of people.
Instead of publishing every day for visibility, publish something worth saving.
Instead of using automation to make communication appear personal, actually make it personal.
Instead of competing on speed, compete on care.
The more the world moves toward efficiency, the more valuable genuine effort becomes. The more communication becomes automated, the more noticeable human attention becomes. The more companies attempt to scale relationships, the more powerful a real relationship becomes.
Going the opposite direction does not mean rejecting technology or refusing to use efficient tools. It means recognizing what becomes scarce when everyone adopts the same tools.
When information is scarce, information is valuable. When information becomes abundant, clarity becomes valuable.
When products are scarce, access is valuable. When products become abundant, trust becomes valuable.
When communication is difficult, reach is valuable. When communication becomes nearly free, attention and sincerity become valuable.
The best opportunities are often found in what everyone else has stopped doing.
A handwritten letter is not new. It is old. But because nearly everyone has abandoned it, it feels unusual again. Personal service is not innovative. Thoughtful preparation is not disruptive. Taking time to understand another person is not a new strategy.
These things simply stand out because they have become rare.
Of course, going the opposite direction carries risk. The crowd occasionally knows exactly what it is doing. You should not automatically reject popular wisdom merely to be unconventional. The goal is not to become contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.
The goal is to notice when conformity has created an opening.
Where has convenience replaced quality?
Where has scale replaced connection?
Where has automation replaced judgment?
Where has speed replaced thoughtfulness?
Where is everyone competing—and what have they left unattended?
That real estate agent did not invent a new marketing technique. He simply did what most of his competitors were unwilling to do. He spent more money, took more time, paid closer attention, and contacted fewer people more personally.
He went the opposite direction.
And I remembered him.
