If you’ve ever felt like the system wasn’t built for you, you’re not wrong. Todd Rose proves you don’t have to fit the mold to make an impact—you can break it wide open.
Once a high school dropout working minimum-wage jobs, Todd’s story isn’t one of sudden brilliance or overnight success. It’s about choosing not to settle. It’s about deciding that life is too short to live someone else’s idea of what success should look like.
Rather than play the game of averages, Todd chose to chart his own course. And in doing so, he’s reshaped the conversation around individuality, learning, and achievement—first as a Harvard faculty member, and now as co-founder of Populace, a think tank dedicated to giving people more agency over their lives.
Todd’s work challenges the idea that we all need to follow the same script. In his book The End of Average, he dismantles the myth that success lives in the middle of the bell curve. In Dark Horse, he lifts up the stories of those who succeed by following their gut, not the guidebook. And in Collective Illusions, he exposes how often we chase lives that don’t reflect what we actually believe—simply because we think everyone else wants them.
But Todd doesn’t just write about change. He builds it. Through Populace, he’s working to reimagine the very systems—education, work, culture—that too often stifle potential instead of unleashing it.
His message is clear: You don’t have to be the best at the system’s rules. You can play your own game. You can build a life that works for you, not one designed to please a crowd you don’t even agree with.
Going big, in Todd’s world, doesn’t mean louder, richer, or more polished. It means real. It means building something bold and lasting—because it reflects who you are and what truly matters to you.
So if you’re feeling boxed in by expectations that don’t fit, take a cue from Todd Rose. Challenge the system. Trust your instincts. Design your own path.
Because sometimes the most radical move isn’t breaking the rules—it’s realizing the rules were never written for you in the first place.
And that’s when you really start going big.
