Tim O’Reilly talks about the value of putting people from different disciplines in a room together.
In thinking about the future of collective intelligence, we need to make sure that we not only think about systems that lead to convergence of opinion, but also ones that ensure divergence, and fresh inputs. The surest way I know to get this is not to pay attention to the breaking news in your own pond, but to find the next community over, and to create new cross connections. Once the connections are well established, move on. (That’s why, for example, at Foo Camp, you won’t find just folks from communities like open source or web 2.0 — two areas O’Reilly has become strongly identified with and had a shaping role for — but new, and potentially explosive mixtures. What happens when folks from synthetic biology meet hedge fund hackers meet roboticists and makers?)
Clearly this is a page the ad industry needs to be on. It seems to me the perfect agency (that will never exist) would be comprised of the most eclectic mix of people possible—a dream team of organic farmers, cultural anthropologists, taxi drivers, vagabonds, poets, athletes, chefs, etc. Naturally, all of the above would be highly capable brand builders. That’s a given. It’s the unquantifiable X-factor that’s only found in the mix, that we need to go after.
[via A VC]