Recently, author and anthropologist Gillian Tett spoke with Fareed Zakaria about her new book, The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers. The interview spanned everything from the rise and fall of Sony’s digital walkmen to the danger in hyperspecialization and surrounding ourselves with like minds. A few comments stood out as being particularly relevant to those of us working in partnership to create social change – especially in industries outside of the nonprofit world.
In this clip, Ms. Tett explains how better collaboration within Sony could have led to all of us having Walkmen instead of iPods:
In this clip (starting at 3:35), Ms. Tett discusses the ideas of social tribes and how vitally important it is for us to surround ourselves with people who think differently than we do:
What do you think? Have you expanded your social tribe, or do you still find it difficult to communicate across worldviews? Let us know in the comments.
In solidarity,
Adeline
