Whatever the path, any move that nudges our natural bias toward adopting an outside perspective will help us understand that problems are rarely so unique that they cannot take lessons from others.
"Forgeries," as Otto Kurz wrote in his 1948 handbook Fakes, "hunt in packs". That is, they are rarely made as unique specimens.
Faculty, fellows, and residents see a large volume of children, and treat complex cases that are rarely seen elsewhere, affording unique opportunities for investigator-driven research.
Indeed, valuable expertise on and interests in special topics are usually distributed and are rarely concentrated in a unique site or research group.
Unique characteristics are rarely embraced – or exploited – by coaches who are more concerned with systems and structures.
Large data sources are increasingly available in many areas, but unfortunately accurate and ubiquitously applied unique identifiers are rarely available.
The most exceptional academic applicants may be seen as the least unique, and so admissions officers are rarely moved to fight for them.
And yet, I think hidden within everyone and all places are small moments of beauty, absurdly unique experiences and abilities which cannot be or are rarely measured.
This story may sound unique but it's not, it's just that these stories are rarely told.
