I do have a dream, but this is more about my five-year-old daughter and the dream she had. On our way home from Christmas weekend with our family, she shared that she had a dream that gas was $100/gallon. My husband and I were riding on an empty tank just so we could reach the gas station charging $2.92/gallon versus paying a whopping $3.10/gallon at the station closest to us. I was about to tell her it sounded more like a nightmare, but she continued to tell us what she “saw in her world.”

Everyone wore the same clothes. People like to wear what other people wear. If everyone wore the same thing, people wouldn’t be worried about what other people wore, and they’d be happy.

As a parent, you’re supposed to listen to your child’s stories and dreams and smile at the cuteness of it all. I admit, though, that I was tremendously saddened by her dream. It took me back to middle school when I first read Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron.” The plot is set in 2081. In the future, our Constitution mandates that everyone be equal-in every way. No one is allowed to be more intelligent than anyone else, better looking, or more athletic. The more intelligent must wear earpieces that emit loud noises to disrupt thought processes. Those more beautiful must wear masks to shield their beauty. The more athletic must wear weights to even the playing field. There’s no sense of competition r superiority because everyone is on the same inferior level.

In a blaze of glory, fourteen-year-old Harry Bergeron, removes his “handicaps” and announces that he is in fact somebody special and worthy of being different. More power to you, Harry! I loved that moment in the story where he rages against conformity. Unfortunately, he was outnumbered. He was shot and killed by Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, who sought to enforce equality through conformity.

So, yes, I am saddened by her dream in which people in the future all wear the same thing to avoid comparisons. As a teenager, I took up the spirit of Harry Bergeron. My goals was to rebel against all kinds of conformity. As soon as any authority figure said, “You should do this or that,” it was a guarantee that I would forge my own path. I was, and still am, terrified of losing my individuality and uniqueness.

Maybe this is what appeals to me so much about leadership and organizational development. Daily, I listen to my colleagues explain why they don’t speak up when they have concerns or when they aren’t comfortable with the decisions made. The conversations always circle back to the idea that it’s not popular to stand out against others, that it’s “easier” to just go along. Again, those are fighting words to me. I feel as though I need to invoke the spirit of Harry Bergeron and share with them that speaking up when appropriate and with respect is more effective. Society and the people that make up a society don’t get better by conforming. All it does is even the playing field.

Okay, I know this is a bit much to process from a dream, especially that of a five-year-old’s, but that is what makes it inherently more worrisome to me. If you start to learn about conformity in kindergarten, then what does the future hold? I do have a dream for my daughter that one day we will seek to maximize every individual’s potential and not be afraid that someone else is more intelligent, more beautiful, or more athletic because at the end of the day, we each offer something unique to the world.

What is your unique contribution?