Focus on Family & Culture
Jul 20 2008
Written by Will Mandeville, Scottsdale, AZ
What Happens at the Intersection?
It’s been a while since I read the book The Medici Effect for the first time, but I think about it all the time. Not from a geeky, business book mantra spewing perspective, as I rarely fall into that. But more from the practical perspective of “this is why we are who we are”.
If you’ve not read the book and you are in a cross-cultural marriage or relationship, raising a multicultural family, or doing business in multicultural markets, you really should consider finding a copy.
It’s a fairly quick read, and worth the time.
Frans Johansson’s premise is that all true innovation and creativity come at the intersection of distinct cultures, disciplines or fields. This is a place that you can consciously get to both personally and professionally. And Johansson has seen this trend occurring all over the world.
While the book gives great examples of how this is the case—from Mick Pearce an architect who figured out how to build the tallest building in Harare, Zimbabwe without air conditioning, to George Soros’ unique approach to philanthropy, to Marcus Samuelsson, the young chef at Aquavit in New York who generated unique and almost immediate buzz by shaking up the ingredients in a way that people had to take notice—that’s only part of why this book so fascinating.
Doesn’t this same premise describe how many of us grew up, or how we’ve decided to live, at that unique intersection of cultures?
Frans Johannson, for his part, comes from a BLUR family. He was raised in Sweden by his African American and Cherokee mother and his Swedish father………it takes one (at the intersection) to recognize another. His perspective is that “diversity drives innovation”.
Leadership and success are, inherently, tied to innovation, which is rooted in diversity.
If that’s the case, isn’t it possible that the same dynamic can take place in our families, our friendships and our communities as well? There is certainly something compelling and unique in a majority of the BLUR families that we have been lucky enough to meet along the way. It’s more recently that we have become clearer on why that is…….
It’s definitely food for thought!
It’s been a while since I read the book The Medici Effect for the first time, but I think about it all the time. Not from a geeky, business book mantra spewing perspective, as I rarely fall into that. But more from the practical perspective of “this is why we are who we are”.
If you’ve not read the book and you are in a cross-cultural marriage or relationship, raising a multicultural family, or doing business in multicultural markets, you really should consider finding a copy.
It’s a fairly quick read, and worth the time.
Frans Johansson’s premise is that all true innovation and creativity come at the intersection of distinct cultures, disciplines or fields. This is a place that you can consciously get to both personally and professionally. And Johansson has seen this trend occurring all over the world.
While the book gives great examples of how this is the case—from Mick Pearce an architect who figured out how to build the tallest building in Harare, Zimbabwe without air conditioning, to George Soros’ unique approach to philanthropy, to Marcus Samuelsson, the young chef at Aquavit in New York who generated unique and almost immediate buzz by shaking up the ingredients in a way that people had to take notice—that’s only part of why this book so fascinating.
Doesn’t this same premise describe how many of us grew up, or how we’ve decided to live, at that unique intersection of cultures?
Frans Johannson, for his part, comes from a BLUR family. He was raised in Sweden by his African American and Cherokee mother and his Swedish father………it takes one (at the intersection) to recognize another. His perspective is that “diversity drives innovation”.
Leadership and success are, inherently, tied to innovation, which is rooted in diversity.
If that’s the case, isn’t it possible that the same dynamic can take place in our families, our friendships and our communities as well? There is certainly something compelling and unique in a majority of the BLUR families that we have been lucky enough to meet along the way. It’s more recently that we have become clearer on why that is…….
It’s definitely food for thought!
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1 Comments
Jul 24 2008
Written by Memo61, San Antonio, TX
This is a really interesting read. Not just a business book, but a life book. Thanks for recommending.