The Limits of Labels

Consider a slab of flat material held up four legs. In the English language, we call this a “Table.”

Table is the label we give to this object.

The Efficiency of Labels

Labels and language create commonality. When we define an object with a specific label, it helps communicate because we know what someone is talking about.

When we define an object with a specific label, it helps communicate because we know what someone is talking about.

Using the word “table” is more efficient than describing the object each time.

If I refer to a table, you get an image in your mind. That makes our communication more efficient and effective.

By giving the object a label we also codify its uses, both implicitly and explicitly.

Most adults have a preconceived notion of what a table can do or can be used for — and what it “shouldn’t” be used for.

The dictionary bakes some of these into its definition, noting that a table is used for “eating, writing, working, or playing games.”

The label we give something tells us how to sort it and organize it. It gives us certainty about where the object belongs and what its function is.

The Limits of Labels

Most people don’t necessarily consider a table to be an appropriate surface for sleeping, sitting on, or standing on.

This highlights the limits of labels: once we give something a label, it can be hard to see the object beyond the constructs of its definition.

Once we give something a label, it can be hard to see the object beyond the constructs of its definition.

Looking Beyond the Labels

Consider how you would approach a table if you dropped down to Earth and had never seen a table before.

Without any preconceived notion of what it is, and without any knowledge of standard social conventions, how might you approach it?

Maybe you’d lay on it and go to sleep.

Perhaps you would turn it upside down to let the flat surface rest on the floor.

Now the table is an open container that can hold things.

Suddenly, you’ve opened up a new field of possibility for its uses.

• Maybe you wrap fabric around the legs to enclose the space and make it into a playpen for a child, or a cage for a pet.
• Perhaps you’d use it as a container to hold smaller objects.
• Turned on its side, a table could become a goal for a kids soccer game, or a target for a practicing kicking a ball.

Looking at an object beyond it’s label unlocks its untapped potential to be something we hadn’t previously conceived.

Looking at an object beyond it’s label unlocks its untapped potential to be something we hadn’t previously conceived.

By removing the labels we give to objects, we open up a wellspring of creativity for thinking about them in new ways and innovating new uses for them.

The Labels We Wear

At the risk of stating the obvious: this doesn’t just apply to objects.

Think about the labels you have been given in various parts of your life. Beyond the obvious things like gender, race, and religion, consider the roles and titles you assume in your career, work, and family.

Each one carries certain connotations — certain “cultural standards” that you might be subconsciously trying to meet.

For example, what are your expectations of a “mom” or a “wife”? How does that differ from your image of a “CEO”?

What image comes to mind when you hear someone described as a “lawyer,” a “real estate broker,” a “yoga teacher,” a “content creator,” or any other role?

If you are a parent, consider what labels you are ascribing to your kids, and how that shapes their identity and their view of their potential.

Looking Beyond Labels

The labels we use make it easier to sort and organize people into categories. They give us certainty about who people are, what people do, and what we can expect from them in a given context.

But it’s a false certainty. People aren’t so easily siloed in to buckets.

We contain multitudes within us, and the potential to be so many things at once.

We contain multitudes within us, and the potential to be so many things at once.

Relying on labels may seem more effective, but labels create an artificial constraint that limits the potential of who and what we can become and how we might contribute to the world.

For example, a woman who takes care of her children full-time and runs a household is effectively a “CEO” of her family — as well as the Head of Talent, Product Lead, and so many other roles. Looking beyond the surface label gives us a more complete picture of what she does.

To tap into the unlimited potential of who or what we can become, we need to look beneath the surface of the labels to see the true essence of a thing or a person.

What’s Beneath Your Labels?

This ability to look beneath labels and define myself by other paradigms has been at the core of my career evolution.

Consider the labels you wear in your life.

By ditching the labels, you can tap into the previously unrealized potential for who you can become.

Not sure where to start? I help my clients dive beneath the surface of cultural labels to tap into their true essence and realize their unfulfilled potential. Reach out to learn more.