The ‘lone genius’ myth perpetuates the idea that the world’s greatest minds accomplished their feats solo. But in many cases, collaborating with others was key.
Michelangelo, Picasso, Mondrian – we often look at these artists as stand-alone geniuses, responsible for huge artistic feats or leading entire art movements.
It’s not just art where this applies, though. It’s also present in tech, businesses and just about any other realm in which single individuals are elevated as luminaries.
The myth, they say, is that historically we’ve viewed creativity as a “natural talent” that only a gifted few possess – especially “white, Anglo-Saxon males”. Even Einstein, perhaps the most iconic genius in history, didn’t come up with his ideas in a vacuum. While working at the Swiss patent office, he spent years analysing and assigning patents to other people’s inventions. This allowed him to build on work done by others, showing that geniuses “are a product of their scientific environment and times“. Creativity isn’t a solely solo pursuit, it’s cumulative and collaborative.
It’s also “sparked by interactions” with others, argue Montuori and Purser. The same has been said during the pandemic, which has stripped many of us of the serendipitous encounters in an office that trigger ideas and inspiration.
Many of history’s high achievers have collaborated with others, which greatly accounted for their success. The rest of us should be doing the same.
Video by Fernando Teixeira and Izabela Cardozo
Produced by Mia Hariz
