Connections - Intertwingled: Information Changes Everything - page 73

Figure 3-17. The “Fit” for Southwest Airlines.
First, there's simple consistency between each activity and the overall strategy. Second, the
activities are reinforcing. Third, the system allows for an optimization of effort that makes the
whole greater than the sum of its parts. Fit's hard to decipher without a key, so competitors can't
copy, and we're more likely to enjoy sustainable competitive advantage. Plus, once we've done
the synthesis needed to make the map, decisions are easier. We know why and where each part
belongs, and we're able to balance local maxima with optimization of the whole. Dig deep into
any successful organization, and you'll find the fingerprints of a leader who understands the art
of connection; it's built into every link, loop and fork.
Reflection
The oldest known musical instruments, flutes made of bird bone and mammoth ivory, are
roughly 40,000 years old, but our tribal ancestors were singing, whistling, and tapping their
hairy toes long before that. Music isn't apart from us but a part of us. Its cross-modal power to
trigger social, emotional, and intellectual associations isn't incidental. From beat to lyrics, music,
poetry, and metaphor have played instrumental roles in the co-evolution of our mind-body-en-
vironment. In The Tell-Tale Brain, V. S. Ramachandran connects the dots between creativity,
synesthesia, and the architecture of the brain.