![]() |
Portrait of Gertrude Stein by Pablo Picasso |
I am only beginning to know Gertrude Stein, but I think for a long time I will be picturing her in my head as portrayed by Kathy Bates in Midnight in Paris
Stein was the leader of an influential circle of thinkers, writers, and painters. I'm trying to think of anyone at the top of such a Mastermind group who took such a circuitous route to success. I think of the US education system, and the standardized tests we train children to take. Next, it is determined that the best route to success is through a 4-year college experience, maybe a master's degree and then straight into the silo.
Certainly, Stein came from a privileged background, with an annuity and never needed to work for a living. But still, she created a new genre of writing, the word portrait, and built a new system of characterology based on her academic learnings and melding in the learnings from her amazing circle of acquaintances. What produced Stein's contributions to literature was her decision not to stay in the silo, but to meander, to step into different streams, and ignite her ideas with the flint of diversity.
Edited: Just a few hours after I posted this, I read this article on the advantages of the generalist over the specialist. It has more business applications than this post, but the point is the same: the silo is not the be-all and end-all.