Collective and Connective

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There has been an extraordinarily common theme across the informational platforms I’ve been devouring recently:

Nothing creative or inventive happens in a vacuum or alone.

And I want to be clear about this: all inventors are creators. In an early blog I talked about how essentially everyone is a creator - science and math-minded folks included - and I just want to reiterate this point.

Has the world seen a large number of “geniuses”?

Yes.

Are these people extraordinary?

Yes.

Have their innovations and creations altered the world in which we live?

Yes.

But not a single one of them did it all alone.

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(Pod) Casts and (TV) Shows

In case I haven’t made this clear yet (lolz), I have a love for podcasts, books, and informational TV.

Recently, these have included such gems as:

(Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through a link for a book above to that website and make a purchase. Thank you in advance if you choose to buy through my page!!)

And in devouring all of this content, the biggest theme that emerges across the artistic, scientific, and combined fields is that none of the great inventions of the past were created and disseminated by any one individual, and the same will be true for everything great that is to come.

Examples:

  1. Pixar could not have become what it is without the solid foundational collaboration between Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs. And even beyond that, Pixar couldn’t continue to be what it is if it weren’t for the constantly-fought for culture of openness, sharing, and full-company inclusion, which sets them apart.

  2. Walt Disney was a genius of animation and a visionary force unto himself, there is no doubt. But what did Disney do better than most anyone else? He employed as many dreamers as he did practitioners (and many who were combinations of both) and pushed them to do their jobs well and with pride. He knew who to hire, who to trust, and he simply let them do what they were best at.

  3. Hamilton is credited as being the work of Lin- Manuel Miranda, and there is no doubt that his vision and leadership on that project was the driving force behind its creation. However, it took a book to inspire him, a top-notch creative team to expand upon the vision, a cast of brilliant artists and friends to fill in the gaps, and a production team that believed in him and the project, all to make Hamilton a reality.

And these are just some larger, modern examples.

Artists cannot flourish without their supporters and collaborators.

Scientists cannot expand their fields without peer review and monetary support.

Even the English language could not have existed without the influence of Germanic, Celtic, French, Latin, and Greek languages and peoples.

Nothing is created in a vacuum.

 

Collect and Connect

The free exchange of ideas between people with a common goal or interest has been shown to be the best way to get things done.

Ever get stuck on a puzzle for hours, and then a friend comes over and, in about 2 seconds, finds that 1 piece you needed?

That’s a small and silly example, sure, but sometimes we just need another person to help us out. And that doesn’t diminish your knowledge or contributions.

Let me repeat that.

And that doesn’t diminish your knowledge or contributions.

Even as the lead creator, your contributions will not diminish. Hamilton would not exist without Lin-Manuel. Hamilton would not exist as it does today without the contributions of everyone else involved. Remove any one person from that process, and the show would not have come out in the same brilliant way.

Research has also shown that - even in this age where we are reportedly the most inter-connected that we have ever been - humans are lonelier than ever and longing for meaningful connection.

So what should we do with this?

Collect and connect!

Is your network of people - friends, peers, collaborators, etc. - pretty small? Gather more people into your collective!

Know a whole bunch of people, but still working mostly on your own? Gather those in your collective together to work as a group, for feedback, or even just to bounce ideas off one another!

In person is always best, but these actions can also be taken online across a thousand different avenues. If there’s a goal you want to accomplish, I can guarantee that you will get further through collaboration than you would ever be able to do alone.

 

Where Do You Want To Be?

What do you want to accomplish next? Do you know anyone who wants to join you on that journey, or whose knowledge would help you along?

Put yourself out there and join with others.

Human history has shown that you just may get life-changing results.