Becoming an Applied Synthesist

“To develop a complete mind, study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.” — Leonardo da Vinci For years I have called and considered myself a generalist. Good at a few things, not exceptional at anything. It felt honest and the best way to describe how I’ve managed to carve out a career by bringing together diverse ideas, disciplines and people. The problem with generalist is that it describes a knowledge base, knowing a little bit about a lot, rather than a way of thinking or being. It tells you I’m broad. It doesn’t tell you what I do with any of it. Here’s what I’ve landed on instead: I’m a synthesist. Not like this guy. You may be too young or sophisticated to remember Jean-Michel Jarre, but his album Oxygène was in high rotation (mostly by me) when I was a kid. Anyway, a different type of synthesist. According to Harrison and Bramson’s research on thinking styles, synthesist is a documented cognitive…