Terminal uniqueness is the belief that the situation a target group is facing is unlike anything faced by anyone else.

This term comes from the work related to addictions and recovery. I think it also has applicability in the world of project/change management.  I am only saying that partly in jest.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been working with a client and am told that the proposed change will not work because they are different or special. This belief is held even in the face of evidence that the change works in other organizations.  It is held even when there are benefits and improvements on the table. It is so pervasive in parts of my work that I have honed a reflexive response – “you are special, but you are not that unique.” 

As you might imagine I do not always have (or take) the opportunity to deliver that message.