In the old-old world, we were halves looking for a whole. ½ + ½ = 1 was the equation of our lives. We quoted Tom Cruise and we all wanted to be complete. Then, technology afforded us a little more freedom. With a bit of awareness, we invented Synergy. The paradigm took us from a world of delusion and illusion into an interdependent world of information that needed to be productive. That world is now over. Instead of creating equilibrium, meaning and happiness, our synergistic efforts produced a lot of waste, stress and negativity.
In a world of excess, we no longer need surplus. We need a unified collective. We need curation and decision systems to give us something that works. Something that is good enough. Nothing less, but especially nothing more. We don't need more, we need just right.
In our connected world where content is no longer king, we desperately need to find that one thing that gets the job done. Extra features are just distractions. In fact, there should no longer be extra features. If it does not contribute to a singular experience, or if it cannot be a part of the whole, then it should not be included in a product or service.
We need reliable, credible and trustworthy brands to give us all the plus ones we need when we need them. But, they must not take us away from that one thing we need to do.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states in Edge.org, "The idea that will change the game of knowledge is the realization that it is more important to understand events, objects, and processes in their relationship with each other than in their singular structure. Western science has achieved wonders with its analytic focus, but it is now time to take synthesis seriously."
Here's Shea Hembey, taking synthesis a hundred levels up.
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