[One Idea Monday] Scenius vs Genius
Akwaaba friends,
Sorry for the late delivery. I was very tired yesterday after playing 2 football games, cooking dinner and cleaning. But here we go!
💡 1 Idea: Scenius
Genius: an exceptionally intelligent or creative individual. i.e: Einstein, Banksy, Mozart…
Scenius: exceptional intelligence of a group or a scene. i.e: San Francisco’s Tech Scene, New York’s Art Scene, Hollywood’s motion pictures scene…
A scenius is where many geniuses are well-connected. As a society, we achieve a lot more with a scenius than with many scattered geniuses.
Having many geniuses in the same “scene” is not enough to create a scenius. We also need a lot of exceptional connectors - people who bring all the geniuses together.
Connectors love organizing social gatherings, building communities, and introducing people. They have no problem staying in the background and making sure everything works. They take pride in the connections they incubate, not the amount of spotlight and recognition they receive.
They are a type of genius - one exceptional in connecting people.
Without connectors, there wouldn’t even be a scene. We would just have really smart people living in their own little bubbles, disconnected from one another.
On the surface, people don’t usually realize that there’s a scenius. We tend to only see the geniuses. We tend to overestimate the genius of the individual, and underestimate the genius of the scene.
If people do see the scenius, they tend to point to a few “geniuses” and say “they are the leaders” of the scene. But I hope I have convinced you by now, that the real “leaders” are connectors.
Real leaders are connectors.
💬 1 Quote
Relevant to the topic of scenius and genius, here’s what Malcolm Gladwell has to say about the importance of a community (or scenius):
If you want to bring about a fundamental change in people’s beliefs and behavior, a change that would persist and serve as an example to others, you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs could be practiced, expressed, and nurtured. ~ Malcolm Gladwell
❓ 1 Poll/ Question
What’s a scenius you want to be a part of?
Thank you for your patience 😚
I feel I am already a part of a Scenius made up of people that surround my work in education. I believe I have been and continue to be a connector for this community. I would add that diversity should be an important ingredient of a scenius--all the obvious forms of diversity including age. Often we tend to cluster with like groups--which is fine, but embrace the differences too--they add to our experience and strength.