What could happen if we replaced the philosophy of rugged individualism with a philosophy of rugged cooperation? What if we swapped out the scripts we’ve learned in an individualist culture with the curiosity and care of a collaborative culture?

The Problem: Heroic Individualism

Heroic individualism is an ongoing game of oneupmanship against both self and others, where measurable achievement is the main arbiter of success and self-worth, and where productivity often gets prioritized over people.

Herbert Hoover’s successful bid for president culminated in a speech on October 22, 1928, that enshrined the concept of rugged individualism into the American mythos.

In every way you can imagine, the United States was only the land of the free for a very narrow slice of the population. The rugged individualism Hoover sought to restore had a... See more