In Edition 89 of the newsletter, I introduced you to the six senses that Dan Pink predicts will increasingly guide and shape our lives. To refresh your memory, the six senses that he details in his book “A whole new mind: why right brainers will rule the future” are:
Design
Story
Symphony
Empathy
Play
Meaning
This edition of my newsletter is focused on symphony. Symphony is the ability to put together the pieces. It is to synthesise rather than analyse. It’s the ability to connect the dots and see relationships between seemingly disparate things.
Right brain thinkers excel at symphony. They can see the forest for the trees. They don’t get lost in the details but constantly think of the bigger picture.
To excel at symphony you have to be more of a boundary crosser, an inventor and a metaphor maker.
The boundary crosser
Do you know a lot about a lot of things? Do you pursue multiple hobbies? Can you cross over between domains, say philosophy and physics?
Why is this important because in the conceptual age, the boundary crossers will be able to make great breakthroughs in thinking to develop original ideas that can change the world.
Boundary crossers reject either/or choices and seek multiple options and blended solutions. They lead hyphenated lives filled with hyphenated jobs and enlivened by hyphenated identities. (Example: Omar Was, a Nairobi-born African- American-Jewish Entreprenuer-policy wonk-television analyst.) They help explain the growing ranks of college students with double majors - and the proliferation of academic departments that dub themselves “interdisciplinary.”
The inventor
Can you blend unrelated concepts easily to create the new? How often are you activating your right brain to have magical aha moments of invention?
As we transition out of the Information Age and into the Conceptual age, the premium on differentiated products and services will only increase. This calls for novel combinations of existing ideas and those who can excel at this kind of think- ing will be much sought after.
“In business today, the journey from innovation to commodity is so swift that successful individuals and organisations must be relentless. They must focus maniacally on invention - while outsourcing or automating much of the execution. This re- quires those with the ability and fortitude to experiment with novel combinations and to make the many mistakes that inevitably come with an inspiration-centred approach. Invention isn’t some impenetrable branch of magic: anyone can have a go.”
The metaphor maker
This is one of the most important elements of symphony - being able to explain one thing in terms of another. With the torrent of information coming our way every day, only metaphor can not only save us from drowning in this tsunami but also help us create value.
George de Mestral is said to have noticed how burrs stuck to his dog’s fur. By reasoning metaphorically, he developed the idea of Velcro. We can learn from artists who are great metaphor makers as everything they create is a depiction of some thing or some thought.
“Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art.” - Thwyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp, popular American dancer, choreographer and author encourages us to boost our MQ (metaphor quotient) in addition to IQ.
In fact, MQ can boost your EQ as metaphor is a way of understanding yourself and others. One other point that Pink makes about symphony is that poets are “unheralded systems thinkers, our true digital thinkers.” The reason is because they contemplate the world, find ways to interpret and express it in a manner that the reader will understand.
An important example of symphony in our modern world is the growing popularity of integrative medicine. This is when doctors see patients as a whole human rather than their sickness as one part to be treated in isolation.
What can you do to develop symphony? Here are 5 ideas from Pink’s “portfolio” section.
1. Listen to great symphonies
2. Buy random magazines
The next time you got to a magazine stand, pick up 4-5 different magazines you have never read. take time through browse through. Keep the lens of the problem you are solving. Look for connections. The results will surprise you!
3. Keep a metaphor log
What a great idea! I’ve just started mine. Noted down metaphors you come across. Now that you are conscious, they will be popping up everywhere to pester you.
4. Draw
No matter how bad you think you may be, learning to draw is to invest in learning to see better. Do it!
5. Create an inspiration board
Designers are fluent with this tool. Left brain thinkers could do well to use Miro or Pinterest to collect a broad array of inspiring images, words and thoughts that can find happy collisions in your mind facilitated by the inspiration board.
Over to you now:
Do you often miss the forest for the trees? How can you pull yourself out to think bigger and more holistically?
How consciously are you filling your mind with diverse stimuli to become more of a boundary crosser?
Is there a metaphor that defines your personal brand?