3 Silos of Safety

You live in your comfort zones. I am fine with that. Your imagination also lives in comfort zones. I can never be fine with that. I have a strong objection against confining imagination. If you go into an uncharted territory physically, there could be some unknown dangers. But in the world of imagination, there are no dangers whatsoever and still nobody wants to venture in these unimagined areas.

Trend is a simpler term for silos of safety. We humans are trained to identify trends and general consensus and hide amidst them. In all the places where there is no need, humans want to stand out and want attention. Some even pursue its obscene cousin, fame, for themselves. But then in the world of ideas, they want to hide in the trend. Like it or not, we are creatures of habit. Even in a zoo an animal does pretty much the same thing it does in the wild. We, too, are like that. We have built our own zoos and live in it doing the exact same thing. I will talk a bit more about the zoos we have built for ourselves in the next chapter when we discuss in detail about confines of conformity.

Our minds, designed for efficiency and survival, naturally seek patterns and predictability. Don’t forget that humans are naturally dull, uninspiring, and predictable. This is not a flaw but a deep-seated survival mechanism. From the moment we wake up to the second we close our eyes at night, our brains are constantly scanning for familiarity. And they have gotten so good at it that it is unbelievable. We are neurologically and psychologically wired to follow trends because, in many ways, trends represent safety. They are predictable. They are known. They are comfortable.

They are enemies of creativity. They don’t allow for creativity to flourish. They build up such a strong case for resisting creative change that our minds and body will instantly shut the creative down. Our mind is programmed to ensure that it reduces any situation where the body is endangered or has to suffer pain. To avoid pain, it induces pain. This tactic, it uses invisibly and often, and trust me it is incredibly successful.

But here’s the problem: This reliance on trends, this adherence to what others are doing and conformity, this comfort in walking on a path that’s already walked on, is a double-edged sword. While it ensures we fit into society, it also limits our ability to innovate and create. It keeps us trapped in what we’ll call silos of safety. And you better remember this phrase. Silos of safety. Very soon you will reach a stage were you will start seeing silos of safety everywhere. No matter how hard you try you will still find yourself tangled in one or the other silo of safety.

At this point I want to break a trend. Trend of using a word not in the way it should be. I think I will start with trend only. Trending is going to be my word. Trending here will mean following the trend and staying in the silos of safety. Let’s look at a little bit of mind science behind trending.

Some Neuroscience of Trending

Our brains are designed to seek patterns because they help us make sense of the world and reduce cognitive load. Our brain makes a big deal about cognitive load. It basically does not want to carry any extra effort whenever possible. Hence, it consistently looks for ways to off load unnecessary effort. I may have said this earlier, but I am saying so again…  Humans are cognitive misers. More often than not they are cognitive losers, too, but that’s beside the point. Is it really beside the point? I don’t think so because I think that misers are losers. I think you also think the same thing as I do. Afterall, we are all largely alike and standardized. We can have different opinions, and we must not shy from those differences. We just have to be kind when dealing with opinions. They are, maybe at best, to be stated. It is better only to keep them with you, but you can politely state them. Never enforce them cunningly or connivingly on anyone.

Anyhow, neurologically, when we see something that aligns with a pattern, our brain releases dopamine—a chemical that makes us feel good, reinforcing the behavior. This is one of the reasons why trends are so compelling; they offer the promise of social validation, comfort, and a sense of belonging. When we follow trends, we feel connected, part of a group, and most importantly, we feel safe.  While identifying patterns, we often neglect the extant potential of and the reality that everything is prone to change.

Much of our instincts have evolutionary roots. In the distant past, following the behaviors and trends of a group was a matter of survival. As mentioned earlier, there was safety in groups. There was innate protection in following established norms.

Many species still live  like that… in groups. Living in groups does provide some safety to them. This is a fact, and it is undisputed. Their survival is a testament to the fact that there is protection in groups. The groups that stuck together and conformed to common behaviors were more likely to survive against external threats. In modern society, this instinct has translated into an unconscious desire to fit in, stay on trend, and follow the collective behavior of others,  whether it’s in fashion, technology, or even the way we think. The problem is that the external threats are mostly neutralize, but we are still not fully immunized from the internal threats themselves. The shadow of competition, curse of ambition, hatred, jealousy, and more has changed the group that protected and provided into toxic and problematic. There are more issues that come from within than outside.

So now when it comes to creativity and innovation, our hardwired tendency to follow trends becomes a serious obstacle. It’s easy to fall into a cycle of copying what’s already been done, what’s already been validated, because it’s safer and requires less risk. Innovation, however, requires the opposite. It requires stepping out of the known, challenging assumptions, and defying the very trends that we’ve grown accustomed to.

Task Impossible: I’m going to give you an impossible task. Yes, I am giving you something that is impossible. The goal here is to try and come up with 10 different ways to try and fail. The task for you is this: 

What can you do to get rid of your shadow?

Proceed to the next section only after you have completed this task.

The Comfort of the Silo

The silo is the mental barrier we erect to keep ourselves safe from the unknown. The point to note here is that it is a mental barrier. It is not a real barrier. Mentally it can be real but really it cannot be real. It’s a psychological construct that keeps us within familiar, predictable patterns of thought and behavior. We all have these silos in different areas of our lives—whether it’s in our work, relationships, or creative endeavors. To be honest, silos exist in each and every area of our life whether we are aware of them or are oblivious to their presence is a separate story. In these silos, we feel protected because we know what’s in it and what’s coming. But the more we stay within these self-imposed boundaries, the less likely we are to take the risks necessary to innovate. With every moment you don’t take the risk your risk avoidance increases greatly. Risk avoidance behavior is pretty prevalent.

Trends become part of these silos. We’re often more comfortable consuming what’s already out there than creating something new. Let me tell you something I find weird about me. You might find this weird too. I cannot open new packets of snacks. If there is an open pack of snacks and a new unopened one, I am unable to make myself open a new one. I will either keep eating from the open one, at times even when I don’t like what is in it, but I will not open a new one. If I am hungry and nothing is open, then I will remain hungry, but I cannot overcome my weird silo to make myself to open the new packet of chips or other snack.

Trends provide a shortcut to success. They give us a roadmap. They tell us what’s popular, what’s working, and where the crowd is headed. This has to feel reassuring. If it did not and if this was not tied to the dopamine release, it would not be as pervasive as it is. My issues and your issue are that this way of thinking inhibits creativity. And right now, we want to enhance creativity. Containing oneself in silos of safety leads to a poverty of ideas. When we all follow the same trends, the range of creativity becomes narrower. The new ideas, the bold concepts, the breakthrough innovations that change the world, are stifled by the comfort of conformity.

Take, for example, the world of social media. We’ve all seen the viral trends that sweep across platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Everyone posts the same dance, the same challenge, or the same meme. While these trends can be fun and engaging, they also represent the same pattern of behavior that we’re naturally wired to follow. The algorithm rewards conformity, and so we follow, often without thinking. The result? A glut of repetitive content that adds little new value to the creative landscape.

Here’s an exercise.  Answer the following questions:

• What are the three most recent social media trends that you have participated in?
• What motivated you to participate in them?
• Did you put a new twist or add something to the trend?
• If you were asked to create a new trend what would that be?

We do so much without thinking. Much of it is designed that way so that you don’t have to think much but then its contribution to our lives is marginal. How we go about things is a matter of concern for me because there is no value add. Now many people say that yeah we did it, but we did it with our own twist. This is one aspect of creativity called elaboration. There are three more: flexibility, fluency, and originality. Elaboration is a weaker form of being creative. I am not entirely against it, but the absence of originality keeps individuals away from setting agenda. They don’t have the luxury to draft narratives and develop agendas. The ones indulged in originality are the ones who are doing all that.

Fashion, for instance is another glaring example trends. From fashion we can also learn that trends are constantly recycled—what was “in” 20 years ago often makes a comeback. While there’s nothing wrong with nostalgia, the constant recycling of the same ideas doesn’t give room for true innovation. The same applies to the tech industry, where companies tend to follow rather than challenge the established trends, prioritizing what’s already proven rather than experimenting with the radical and unknown.

The Poverty of Ideas

When we follow trends instead of setting them, we contribute to what I call the poverty of ideas. I have already mentioned about poverty of ideas in the previous chapter, but it is important to learn it from the perspective and the context of silos of safety. A poverty of ideas doesn’t mean a lack of ideas; it means an overabundance of the same kinds of ideas, recycled, reshuffled, and rebranded without adding anything new to the conversation. It’s when we see countless versions of the same concept being produced over and over, without anyone daring to step outside the comfort zone. Don’t you think this is problematic? Of course, it is.

Creativity flourishes in the space where we challenge the status quo. But trends, by their very nature, create a ceiling. Once something becomes a trend, it’s no longer a novel idea—it’s just part of the collective norm. I am mindful of the fact that doing something new all the time can be taxing and problematic for many because that is just something that they don’t prefer. Making people who don’t like to do new things is not fair to them. And we don’t want to do that either. The way I look at it as that just because a snake can hiss and squirt poison, it does not mean that it should keep doing that all the time. It just needs to not forget that it can do that otherwise its existence is often jeopardized by power mongers who will misuse it. New ideas are often considered “too risky,” “too radical,” or simply “too different” from the trend. As a result, the truly innovative concepts, the ones that can change the world, are buried beneath layers of predictable repetition.

When we stay in our silos of safety, we are trapped in this cycle. We’re more likely to adopt what others are doing, rather than risk creating something completely new. And as long as we keep following trends, we will continue to experience a poverty of ideas and live in the lack of true creative growth.

The disservice of the Self

Perhaps the most insidious part of this trend-following behavior is how it causes us to do disservice to our own creative self. Each time we choose to follow rather than create, we deny a part of ourselves—the part that wants to experiment, explore, and push boundaries. We stop listening to our own voice and begin to listen to the collective noise. This is deeply sorrowful and problematic. Denying that little portion that was anyways otherwise subdued is further alienating creativity.

No matter what it feels like, subscribing to trends, in reality, is a way of silencing our inner creativity. When we stay safely within the boundaries of what’s popular, we lock ourselves in a cage of comfort and predictability. But true innovation comes from breaking free of these silos—venturing into the unknown and allowing ourselves to fail, learn, and grow. This is how humans grown, and also humanity. By staying within silos of safety, growth of humans and humanity is impossible.

Breaking free of the silos of safety requires us to consciously resist the gravitational pull of trends. It requires the courage to step away from what’s comfortable and experiment with new ideas that may not fit into the current narrative. It requires us to trust our own creative instincts and embrace the discomfort of creating something new. It is also about not accepting and being in peace with what there is. This discomfort also is a good tool to break free from the clutches of silos of safety. Next, we will look at some more ways to break free from the silos of safety.

Activities to Break the Silo

We’ve talked about the dangers of trends and silos, but now, let’s explore some activities to break free from them and spark your creativity. These exercises are designed to push you out of your comfort zone and into new, uncharted creative territory.

1. The Reverse Trend Challenge

Pick a trend that’s popular right now. It could be something in fashion, technology, or even social media. Your task is to take that trend and flip it on its head. Imagine a world where this trend never existed or where it’s taken to the extreme opposite. How can you creatively reimagine this trend?

Example: If you’re into the minimalist trend, try designing something excessively maximalist. If you’re into the tech trend of constant connectivity, design a concept that advocates for complete disconnection.

The point here is to take a familiar idea and deconstruct it. By reversing trends, you’ll start thinking outside the typical framework of what’s “safe” and “expected.”

2. The “What If?” Exercise

Sit down and spend 15 minutes brainstorming a series of “What If?” questions. Don’t censor yourself—let your mind wander to the most outlandish, unconventional ideas. These questions should force you to think beyond your current comfort zone. Some examples include:

• What if the rules of design didn’t exist?
• What if I had no limitations (time, money, skill) in creating something?
• What if I combined two completely unrelated trends?

As you ask these questions, try to imagine what your answers could look like in the real world. This exercise helps break down the mental silos we live in and encourages the free flow of creative thought.

3. The Trend Disconnection

For one week, purposefully disconnect from trends. Unfollow social media influencers, stop reading industry blogs, and avoid any content that promotes current trends. Instead, explore completely new things—listen to a new genre of music, read a book outside your usual genre, or spend time learning about a topic you know nothing about.

After a week, sit down and reflect on the experience. How did it feel to break free from trends? What new ideas emerged from stepping away from the constant pull of conformity? Did you uncover any fresh perspectives that you wouldn’t have thought of while plugged into the trend cycle?

4. The Collaboration Experiment

One of the best ways to escape your silo is by collaborating with others. But here’s the catch: Choose a collaborator who comes from a completely different background, discipline, or expertise. This could be someone from a different creative field, culture, or even age group.

The goal of this exercise is to break down the silos we construct around our creative processes. By working with someone who brings new ideas, perspectives, and experiences, you’ll be forced to challenge your own assumptions and push past the boundaries of your comfort zone.

In the End

To truly innovate, we must be willing to defy our own neurological wiring to follow trends. We must push against the temptation to play it safe and instead embrace the unknown. This means taking risks, challenging our assumptions, and most importantly, trusting ourselves to create rather than imitate.

The silos of safety—those mental constructs that keep us in line with the crowd—are not inherently bad. They provide comfort, but they can also become prisons for our creativity. As we venture into the world of ideas and innovation, we must remember that creativity doesn’t thrive in the comfort of the known. It thrives in the uncertainty of the unknown. To break free of these silos, we need to be willing to step outside our comfort zones and create the trends, not just follow them.

So, the next time you find yourself conforming to a trend, pause and ask yourself: “Am I creating, or am I simply following?” The answer may be the key to unlocking your true creative potential.