“The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this; nor is it in the nature of human intellect to become wise in any other manner.” — John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill’s words capture a timeless truth: wisdom cannot emerge from a singular perspective. Instead, it is the product of many opinions, angles, and ways of thinking. In our increasingly interconnected and complex world, the ability to embrace diverse mindsets has become a fundamental necessity for solving the most pressing problems and generating breakthrough ideas. However, this diversity must go beyond visible attributes like race and gender — it must extend to how we think, our experiences, and our backgrounds.
The Parable of The Blind Men and The Elephant
The Parable of The Blind Men and The Elephant
The ancient parable of The Blind Men and the Elephant beautifully encapsulates this need for diversity of thought. In the story, a group of blind men hears of a strange animal — an elephant — that has arrived in their town. Out of curiosity, they decide to inspect it by touch. However, as each man feels a different part of the elephant, they arrive at wildly different conclusions.
The man who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a thick snake
.The man who feels the ear says it is a fan.
The man who feels the leg says the elephant is like a tree trunk.
The man who feels the side says it is like a wall.
The man who feels the tail says it is like a rope.
The man who feels the tusk says it is like a spear.
None of them could agree because they were all limited by their unique perspectives, each interpreting a part of the elephant as the whole. This parable teaches a vital lesson: no one person or group can see the full picture. Each perspective adds value, but it is only when we bring them together that we can understand the complexity of the whole. In much the same way, an organisation that seeks to innovate or solve intractable problems must look beyond its narrow focus and invite fresh perspectives from outside its usual domain.
The Macintosh: Innovation through Liberal Arts
One of the most iconic examples of how diversity of thought leads to innovation comes from Steve Jobs and the creation of the Macintosh. Jobs believed the Macintosh was successful because the team behind it comprised more than just computer scientists. Instead, it included musicians, poets, historians, and artists — all of whom brought their unique perspectives to the project. Jobs once said: “The people working on the Macintosh were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world… We all brought to this effort a very liberal arts attitude that we wanted to pull in the best of what we saw in these other fields into this field. I don’t think you get that if you’re very narrow.” By blending liberal arts with technology, Jobs and his team could create something that was not only functional but beautiful, user-friendly, and emotionally compelling. This fusion of disciplines — the synthesis of different mindsets — was the key to creating a product that revolutionised personal computing.
The Black Swan: Asking the Right People
Nicholas Nassim Taleb popularised the story of The Black Swan, which also highlights the need for diverse perspectives.
The term “black swan” has a rich history, rooted in both mythology and science. In the first century CE, the Roman satirist Juvenal used it to describe something rare and impossible — an example of adynaton, a figure of speech that describes something preposterous or absurd, akin to saying “when pigs fly.” The expression, symbolising the impossible, made perfect sense to Europeans at the time because all swans they had ever seen were white.
Yet, as with many assumptions based on limited perspectives, this belief shattered once European explorers encountered the southern continent, Terra Australis, where black swans were real and native to Australia. In 1697, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh and his crew were among the first Europeans to encounter black swans along what is now known as the Swan River. The discovery was as startling as if they’d seen a unicorn. Despite the recorded sightings, the myth of the black swan persisted in Europe for over a century before its status transitioned from fable to fact.
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In a recent conversation with Jamais Cascio on The Innovation Show, we explored how this story serves as a metaphor not just for unpredictability, but for the consequences of not asking the right people. The black swan had always existed, known to the Aboriginal people of Australia, who featured it in their songlines and stories. The real problem was not that black swans were unimaginable — it was that European explorers had never consulted those who already knew about them. The indigenous knowledge was overlooked, simply because it wasn’t part of the Europeans’ narrow worldview.
This lesson is crucial in today’s complex, interconnected world. When tackling modern problems, whether in science, business, or society, it’s easy to rely on familiar perspectives and traditional expertise. But, as the black swan teaches us, this often leads to blind spots. By widening our view and inviting diverse viewpoints — especially from those outside our usual domains — we uncover possibilities and solutions that were previously hidden.
Much like the revelation of the black swan, diversity of thought brings light to what we may never have considered. It challenges assumptions, enriches understanding, and helps us navigate a world that is increasingly unpredictable. We can learn from history’s mistakes: sometimes the answer is right there, but only if we ask the right people.
InnoCentive: Crowdsourcing Solutions through Diverse Perspectives
Alpheus Bingham brought this idea of engaging with diverse minds to solve complex problems to life when he founded InnoCentive. The platform connected organisations facing tough challenges with a global pool of problem solvers from diverse fields. The premise was simple: while experts in a particular field might get stuck on a problem, opening up the challenge to a wider audience — people from different disciplines, industries, and walks of life — could lead to unexpected solutions. InnoCentive was a remarkable success. One notable example involved NASA, which had struggled with a technical problem for 30 years. When they posted the challenge on InnoCentive, someone who was not an expert in the field solved within weeks it. The diversity of perspectives made this possible, as individuals who were not limited by the assumptions and constraints of traditional experts solved it within weeks.
The Potato Chip Company: Innovation from Unlikely Sources
Simon Hill, CEO of Wazoku, who acquired InnoCentive, recently joined us on The Innovation Show.
Simon shared an interesting story about how a famous potato chip company solved a persistent problem using crowdsourcing and unlikely perspectives. The company, known for its stacked crisps, faced a challenge: they needed to shake excess oil off the crisps without breaking them. Every method they tried resulted in too much breakage, and they couldn’t find a solution, even after consulting various experts. The problem was reframed and opened to a global crowd of problem solvers through InnoCentive. The winning solution came from an unlikely source — a violinist in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She suggested using sound waves to shake the oil off, theorising that the frequency of the oil and crisps would differ, thus allowing the oil to be removed without damaging the crisps. Her idea worked, and the company adopted it as part of its manufacturing process. By inviting diverse perspectives, the company could solve a problem that had previously seemed intractable.
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The Broader Lesson: Embracing Diversity of Mindset
The stories of The Blind Men and the Elephant, the Black Swan, InnoCentive, and the potato chip company all point to the same lesson: the importance of neurodiversity. In a world where challenges are becoming increasingly complex, relying on a single perspective or a narrow group of experts is no longer sufficient. Just as the blind men couldn’t understand the whole elephant by focusing on one part, organisations and individuals cannot grasp the full scope of a problem without engaging with a broad range of perspectives.
By embracing diversity of thought, we not only gain new insights but also challenge our assumptions. We move beyond the limitations of our own experiences and see the world through different lenses, unlocking innovation and discovering solutions that would have remained hidden.
In an age where innovation is crucial to survival, diversity of mindset is not just a philosophical ideal — it is a practical necessity. Whether we are creating a new product or solving a longstanding problem, it’s clear that having different viewpoints helps us gain a complete understanding. Just as the blind men in the parable needed to share their insights to understand the elephant, so too must we collaborate with a diversity of minds to tackle the incomprehensible and discover the innovations of tomorrow.
Speaking of Neurodiversity, check out the latest episode of the Corporate Explorer series, sponsored by Wazoku. This episode discussed Strategic Diversity with Richard Robertson, MSc.
https://medium.com/media/6c9e1c450c7d35520df8ecf3c9fbca32/href
For a Diversity of topics, opinions and perspectives, join us at The Reinvention Summit 2025 in Dublin, where we bring different people together under a common desire, that of Reinvention.
https://www.thereinventionsummit.com
The Reinvention Summit 2025 in Dublin
Neurodiversity, Innovation and The Hidden Lesson From the Black Swan was originally published in The Thursday Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
The post Neurodiversity, Innovation and The Hidden Lesson From the Black Swan appeared first on The Innovation Show.