Value of Multi Disciplinary Innovation & Leadership

The idea of the artist, architect, innovator, improver resonates pretty strongly with me. So many people could do this effectively if they would learn to listen and make the connections/links  between their "multiple roles" in life. from parenting, to volunteer leadership, to family care providers, to friends/listeners, to performers. It all applies. 


Valuable doesn't equal Valued!

While multi disciplinary innovation is valuable.. it is rarely valued within large organizations and institutions. The very foundations of innovation are catalytic and often destructive if not properly channeled. How often do we simply attriibute the title of "flighty" to a multi-disciplinary thinker? or even worse... We state, that their connections were "obvious, or common-sense" followed by a general disregard for their contribution. We choose to not think.

To be valued, one must embrace the concepts of T-shaped leadership as outlined by Morten Hansen in his book "Collaboration". Depth in certain skills and set with broad awareness and ability to embrace others' expertise without feeling threatened. This disciplined collaboration combined with diversity of perspective in leadership is the hallmark of entrepreneurial success.

"Thinking is man's only basic virtue, from which all the others proceed. And his basic vice, the source of all his evils, is that nameless act which all of you practice, but struggle never to admit: the act of blanking out, the willful suspension of one's consciousness, the refusal to think-not blindness, but the refusal to see; not ignorance, but the refusal to know. It is the act of unfocusing your mind and inducing an inner fog to escape the responsibility of judgement-on the unstated premise that a thing will not exist if only you refuse to indentify it, that A will not be A so long as you do not pronounce the verdict "it is." From Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand                   


This  post is intended to remind multi-disciplinary leaders and thinkers of the risks in many traditional following organizations and to articulate that value is derived from the results of multi-disciplinary perspectives rather than the ideology itself. Many verticals and hiring practices do indeed seek out "single minded" models.

As I stated above: "disciplined collaboration combined with diversity of perspective in leadership is the hallmark of entrepreneurial success" and in our rapid change cycle, organizations must indeed adapt and embrace entrepreneurial flexibility and speed to market norms. A solutions based, customer centric approach is key to future success even in the biggest corporations.

This all starts with thinking about what we think, and a relentless application of ideology proving results.