Connect the Unconnected

In his book Expect the Unexpected, Roger von Oech, uses thirty epigrams written by ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus as a basis for essays he calls Creative Insights, to inspire creativity.  Roger has a chart that randomly lists around 1,100 variations of the  numbers one through thirty.  The idea is, with pencil in hand, to close your eyes and let the pencil land on a number - in random fashion.  That number corresponds with one of Roger's Creative Insight essays.  Whatever problem that you might be trying to solve, look at it through the lens of this randomly picked Insight.

The first time I tried this in June of 2002, I picked Insight # 6 -  "A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected."  Roger starts out "Connect the Unconnected." He tells us how writers, architects, inventors, crime investigators etc., combine dissimilar aspects and elements to solve problems and create new ideas. 

In Leading the Revolution, Gary Hamel tells us what happens to companies when they do not connect the unconnected:

In nearly every industry, strategies tend to cluster around some "central tendency" of industry orthodoxy.

Aiding and abetting strategy convergence is an ever-growing army of eager young consultants transferring "best practices" from leaders to laggards. 

Executives who spend much of their time attending the same trade shows, reading the same industry magazines, and listening to the same e-biz pundits accelerate the pace of strategies convergence.

I've said it before and I really must apologize, but the picture in my mind is so vivid.  Certain mountainous regions in certain eastern parts of the United States have isolated areas where people do not stray from and where outside people do not settle.  This leaves family of families creating more family.  This is what happens to companies and people who do not venture outside of their industries for fresh perspectives and ideas.

In the first paragraph of the Starship Cruiser's mission I said:

To explore and discover the universe of different; to RadioBack the coordinates of those who are adding value to the lives of others by means of voice and heart; and who refuse to deviate one degree from being human and not digress into the monolithic overtones of corporate rhetoric.

In the future I will strive harder to venture outside the world of marketing folks, biz coaches / writers and designers, and welcome aboard those in other realms of business and life.

Ironically, and I'm not sure the word ironically fits the bill - perhaps serendipitously, I visited Roger's site this morning and found a most excellent example of what I discussed here today: Walk the Labyrinth with Jonny Baker. 

Comments

[Roger von Oech]

David,

What a wonderful post! I think you've hit on one of the most important acts of creativity and probably all human endeavors: connecting the unconnected.

I agree with you that exploring outside our usual realms is a great boost for innovation.

Best wishes,

Roger

[dave]

Thanks Roger! I think the very idea of "exploring" connotes adventure and fun too!

[Steve Sherlock]

Dave, one of the benefits and real inspiration behind the Hitchhikers Guide is this connection idea. This was a good post. Actually doubly good. I got two new sites to check out from it! Keep on hiking!

[Troy Worman]

30 epigrams representing 30 different looking glasses with slightly different perspectives--isn't it interesting how a few words can change the way one sees the world.

[dave]

Thanks Steve! With the Long Tail as our North Star, hiking is good indeed!

And I think it's challenging for us bloggers to keep striving for the precious words to do just that. Great point Troy!