Independent-mindedness seems to be more a matter of nature than nurture. Which means if you pick the wrong type of work, you're going to be unhappy. If you're naturally independent-minded, you're going to find it frustrating to be a middle manager. And if you're naturally conventional-minded, you're going to be sailing into a headwind if you try to do original research.

But schools generally ignore independent-mindedness, except to the extent they try to suppress it

It matters a lot who you surround yourself with

Another place where the independent- and conventional-minded are thrown together is in successful startups. The founders and early employees are almost always independent-minded

In my experience, independent-mindedness and curiosity predict one another perfectly. Everyone I know who's independent-minded is deeply curious, and everyone I know who's conventional-minded isn't