Categories Don’t Define Reality—We Do

Why didn’t they accept it at first? Simple. With a duck-like bill, an otter-like body, a tail like a beaver, and webbed feet, the platypus didn’t fit an established category. So it couldn’t possibly be real! While this may seem funny, the idea of rejecting ideas (new realities) that don’t fit neatly into accepted categories, still happens on a regular basis.

I learned this firsthand while working with Michael Jordan on his book, Rare Air. It was my first retail book experience so I was naive to the process. After working hard and putting a presentation together, I flew to NYC to meet with several prominent publishers. (By the way, when Michael writes a letter on your behalf, asking someone (anyone) to meet with you… they will.) By the end of my first meeting, I learned that since Rare Air didn’t fit an existing category, it couldn’t be “real.”

Like the scientists and the platypus, every publisher who initially saw Rare Air rejected it. By reinforcing each other’s beliefs… they shook ours. When Michael asked whom we had selected to publish his book, we were speechless. We had one last meeting set up in California with Harper Collins. But this time we were prepared… since a category didn’t exist, we decided to create a new one. We called it a “pictorial autobiography” and the publisher bravely (or naively) accepted it. Rare Air went on to become a NY Times best-seller, sold more than a million copies in numerous languages… and established a new publishing niche.

Years later, I reconnected with one of those NY publishing executives on another project. “What were we thinking?” he asked me. He went on to say, “After Rare Air’s phenomenal success, I would often lay awake at night reliving your presentation… it was so obvious! Why on earth couldn’t we see it then?” The answer to his question was… and still is… obvious. He and the other publishers were so focused on the status quo, and established categories, they couldn’t see new possibilities. They chose accepted categories over reality. Categories exist everywhere. They can help us, but also blind us if we’re not careful. Most importantly, they don’t define reality unless we let them.

Before you throw out a great idea, stop and question the existing categories… it might be time for a change. Creativity is constantly exposing reality, and in the process, changing and creating new categories.

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