When the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Rory Sutherland marvels at individuals who prove to be very good at more than one thing, such as Eric Maschwitz, who became head of light entertainment at the BBC years after penning classics such as These Foolish Things.

When the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Rory Sutherland

Rory Sutherland argues that mechanistic processes, artificial dichotomies and the urge to compartmentalise are alien to creative activity

One thing that often surprises people is my adoration of Ronald Reagan. Part of my admiration is simply for his breadth – he was somewhere on the scale between ‘pretty good’ and ‘great’ at about eight different things: actor, baseball commentator, radio announcer, television star, letter writer, comedian, governor, president.

That suggests someone far more unusual in statistical terms than people who are simply good at one thing....

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