The easiest way to thrive as an outlier
…is to avoid being one. At least among your most treasured peers.
Surround yourself with people in at least as much of a hurry, at least as inquisitive, at least as focused as you are. Surround yourself by people who encourage and experience productive failure, and who are driven to make a difference.
What's contagious: standards, ethics, culture, expectations and most of all, the bar for achievement.
The crowd has more influence on us than we have on the crowd. It's not an accident that breakthroughs in music, architecture, software, athletics, fashion and cuisine come in bunches, often geographic. If you need to move, move. At least change how and where you exchange your electrons and your ideas.
We all need leaders who challenge the tribe. We benefit even more when our leaders have peers who push them to be even better.