Against the Grain

Author quote:  "And is there anything sweeter than going against the grain and realizing that the marks you leave behind are the new grain?  I think not."

Those words were used to identify 18 individuals and one group as subjects to devote a chapter in "Against the Grain."  Some familiar names, but some maybe not so well known and with an emphasis on their early struggles.  Included are those who overcame ridicule to make a positive benefit for the rest of mankind.

A lot of interesting people to choose from, but a blog is not a book.  A few highlights to make a few points.

 

Terry O'Reilly's background is advertising and he offers two examples of men who changed conventional thinking, Albert Lasker and Bill Bernbach.  One point for me was to see the advantage in the disadvantage such as used by Avis, the number 2 who tries harder and the small Volkswagen.  

As a blogger I will take this opportunity for my own advertising contribution.  I was a big basketball fan and managed to get involved with the inaugural idea of the Buffalo Braves playing some games at Maple Leaf Gardens.  They let me sell a few tickets in a reserved section.  Frustrated that it wasn't as overwhelming as I had hoped, I got the idea for a unique ad and asked if I could run it in the Oakville paper that I worked for as a district circulation manager.  Given the okay I came up with the idea that Canadians weren't aware of the 24 second rule that assured lots of action.  I got photos of Pete Maravich and Bob McAdoo opposing each other with the caption "24 second shoot em up."  Maple Leaf Gardens also copied it in their big Toronto ads.

Bogota in Colombia had a reputation of being one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  Antonas Mockus, a non politician had been in trouble, but he decided to run for mayor.  He used creative, even contra intuitive methods to deal with alcohol and guns.  He used ridicule to curb violence.  One example was to hire mimes stationed near high traffic accident areas to mock drivers who ignored rules.  His unorthodox methods that dramatically reduced accidents, homicide rates and even water wastage.

Scientists are often thought of as innovators, but as in other professions there is an establishment that likes to protect itself.  O'Reilly gives us four examples of medical doctors who literally went through periods of being ridiculed before their innovations became normal.  One was the simplest of washing ones' hands before delivering babies.  The others also helped save lives, literally millions of lives.

Suzanne Simard from a young age decided she wanted to be involved with forestry.  She worked for the government  and for private business.  A standard practice was to replace cut trees with new commercially viable plantings carefully spaced apart so they would not "compete" against one another.  Advocating for a role for birch trees some critics labelled her "Miss Birch" to her face and likely switched one letter on her back.  Suzanne discovered that in fact different types of trees and even mushrooms interconnect to be healthier.  We have known for awhile that  trees soak up carbon dioxide and send out oxygen, but she found a mixed forest provided a healthy environment for humans and provided justification for the term "forest bathing."

Due to the popularity of "King Richard" even many non sports fans know Richard Williams played a critical role in the development of two world famous tennis stars, Venus and Serena Williams.  The story has a long background covering Richard's poor youth that including racism and poverty.  He was also involved in fighting.  He had almost no awareness of tennis when he saw a news item about a woman (from Romania) winning $40,000 in a tournament.  Venus and Serena were not yet born, but he became obsessed with the idea of making them international tennis stars.  Richard's strategy was more than just practicing the game itself, but required school discipline and encouraging them to earn money on their own.

These are just a few highlights not really conveying the struggles involved.  Some better known people are included like Taylor Swift, Norman Lear and Dick Fosbury.  A few lesser known others have contributed to society against odds.  A reader will find lots of inspiration  and perhaps an openness to other people who have innovative ideas that might seem a little off the wall. 

Another interesting book by Terry O'Reilly was "My Best Mistake".  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/my-best-mistake.html