If you take a piece of Velcro and try to stick it to something like glass, it won’t work. It’s hard to climb a perfectly smooth surface; much easier to climb something that’s a little rough. The rougher the better, in fact.
You want a smooth surface when you’re going for speed. A smooth road is easier to pass over quickly than a rough one. There are fewer things to get caught on.
Now, consider your personality: are you trying to make it easy to pass over you quickly, or easy to interact with and get stuck on?
People often work very hard to be “unobjectionable.” The thing is, you can be very agreeable, pleasant, and kind while being unusual, weird, and even “objectionable.” You can voice strange opinions with kindness. You can step out of line without punching. You can even object while offering solutions.
And you should! While I’ll happily be the first person who will tell you that you shouldn’t be afraid of making a few people upset, that isn’t even really the core concept here. The core concept is that even if you care very deeply about what other people think, this is the best approach. Because if you’re so smooth you don’t have any handholds at all, then what other people will think of you is nothing.
The Opportunity Machine 