Tiny Dogs & Riot Grrrls: Innovation Through Unconventional Brilliance
Transforming 'Maybe' Into Movement
I am deep in my morning coffee ritual when my friend sends me this clip of this absolutely fearless (or possibly clueless) pup who takes one look at a set of stairs and decides "Nah, I choose hedge."
Not exactly what the architects had in mind, but this little rebel just created their own exit strategy. "Maybe this will work," they probably thought, right before diving face-first into the shrubbery.
And holy shit, if that isn't the story of my entire professional existence. So much so, that my kids joke about putting “Maybe This Will Work” on my headstone.
We're all that dog sometimes. Standing at the top of those metaphorical stairs, looking at the "proper" way to do things, and thinking "...or I could just yeet myself into this hedge." That's where the magic happens. That's where we break free from those neat little boxes society keeps trying to stuff us into. And it’s way more fun.
Later that day, the universe decided to double down on this revelation. I'm working on a presentation when Le Tigre's Decepticon crashes into my playlist like a glitter bomb in a board meeting. Here's Kathleen Hanna – the original riot grrrl herself – making what's essentially a dance-pop banger. The punk purists of the time lost their minds. How dare she trade angry guitars for synth beats?
While I bopped around my home office for a much-needed dance break I realized that's what makes it brilliant. Hanna looked at the stairs (conventional punk rock), glanced at the hedge (electronic pop), and said "Maybe this will work..." And guess what? It fucking did. Three albums and a hit single later, Le Tigre didn't just work – they created an entirely new space for unconventional brilliance to thrive.
Success isn't about following the pre-approved path. It's about having the audacity to look at that hedge and think "Yeah, I could work with that." Sometimes the most powerful innovation comes from simply refusing to use the stairs everyone else is taking.
So here's to all of us hedge-jumping, genre-bending, convention-crushing brilliant weirdos. Keep making those choices that make the traditionalists scratch their heads. That's how we create something truly transformative.
Tell me about your hedge-diving moment. Drop a comment below (or hit reply if you’re reading via email).
A version of this article originally appeared on Launching Your Success in 2016.
I feel like I have been hedge jumping my whole fucking life.