Transnational Leadership and Symphony

Daniel Pink (2005) defined the aptitude "Symphony" as "the ability to put together the pieces. [Symphony] is the capacity to synthesize rather than to analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair" (p. 130). Pink went on to say that those with a high aptitude of symphony are "boundary crossers" because they are able to develop expertise in a number of different spheres and disciplines and "find joy in the rich variety of human experience" (p.134). As leaders for the 21st century and beyond, it is imperative that we develop within ourselves and those we lead the freedom and confidence to attempt to make connections between ideas and fields that do not seem connectable (I'm not sure if this is a word, but it works here!). Furthermore, to work effectively with people of different cultures, beliefs, and value systems, we must be willing and able find how we connect with them. We must be able to find answers to questions like "How can a white male American Christian connect with a Chinese female Confucian?"

Pink refered to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's comment that great minds are "androgynous," which means to contain both male and female characteristics. Pink said those with androgynous minds are "boundary crossers." To me, this does not mean that I must act like a female or that a female must act like a male. Instead, in a larger sense, I believe Pink and Coleridge are stating that boundary crossers are those whose minds are not rigid and closed off to people and ideas that seem disconnected from their own. An androgynous mind is an open one, always searching for new relationships and progressive connections between seemingly different ideas and concepts.