Are you using a "herd" mentality in your music?

This may sound counterintuitive. Or rude. I mean, nobody wants to be called part of a "herd." Yet, I've seen it play out as truth many times in my 20+ years as a professional composer. It comes from the old-school founder of the Nightingale-Conan self-help company, Earl Nightingale. One piece of advice he gave over and over again applies directly to our Sacrament Meeting music, and the fact that if you take all the primary songs, hymn arrangements, etc., and toss them in a bucket, you'll find...