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There is a wonderful book called Collective Genius, co-authored by Linda Hill, a professor at Harvard.
It’s in the collective where true genius is created. Meaning, none of us single-handedly have the answer. It’s when we put our minds together that true magic happens.
I posted an amazing story about Bobbi Gibb on LinkedIn yesterday. But it was in the collective responses that strikes me as the true power of this story. So many interpretations from a single story.
Read on for the short story and the collective life and leadership lessons ✨
"Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean."
“When she applied to run in the Boston Marathon in 1966 they rejected her saying: “Women are not physiologically able to run a marathon, and we can’t take the liability.”
On the day of the marathon, Bobbi Gibb hid in the bushes and waited for the race to begin. When about half of the runners had gone past she jumped in.
She wore her brother’s Bermuda shorts, a pair of boy’s sneakers, a bathing suit, and a sweatshirt. As she took off into the swarm of runners, Gibb started to feel overheated, but she didn’t remove her hoodie. “I knew if they saw me, they were going to try to stop me,” she said. “I even thought I might be arrested.”
It didn’t take long for male runners in Gibb’s vicinity to realize that she was not another man. Gibb expected them to shoulder her off the road, or call out to the police. Instead, the other runners told her that if anyone tried to interfere with her race, they would put a stop to it. Finally feeling secure and assured, Gibb took off her sweatshirt.
As soon as it became clear that there was a woman running in the marathon, the crowd erupted—not with anger or righteousness, but with pure joy, she recalled. Men cheered. Women cried.
By the time she reached Wellesley College, the news of her run had spread, and the female students were waiting for her, jumping and screaming. The governor of Massachusetts met her at the finish line and shook her hand. The first woman to ever run the marathon had finished in the top third.””
Fantastic story, right?! And now for the collective takeaways…
1. There’s more than one way to get into the race. [me]
2. Find your tribe, and they’ll help carry you forward (the power of allys). [me]
3. The rejection of a few do not represent the rejection of all. [me]
4. Great things require great risk. [me]
5. Patience, perseverance and determination can and will get you to where you want to be. Never give up! [Traci Lamb]
6. Forgiveness, not permission. [Dave Kline]
7. Sometimes, those you might assume are your enemies may actually be supporters or even advocates. [Ellen Raynor]
8. Don’t hide who you are be yourself. [Darcie Pitta]
9. We can’t predict the outcomes of our actions. Sometimes we just need to take the risk and get feedback based on the environment. [Alex Wentz]
10. Never underestimate a woman with a mission, passion and goal. [Jodie Lamb]
11. If you want to get something done, and you’ve thought through benefits/risks, just do it and deal with any consequences later. [Michael Fruhling]
12. Only Self Confidence. [Madhav Joshi]
13. Not caring about what other people think. This can often prevent us from taking risks. [Meridith Grundei]
14. Things are believed impossible… until they aren’t. [Matthew McLaughlin]
So many lovely inspirations from one story. Many I love that I didn’t write myself!
It’s in our individual perspectives that we can see something different while looking at the same thing.
Don’t make the mistake that you have to have all the answers.
You might like someone else’s answer better. That’s ok… use it! And credit them 🙂
Directing where the spotlight should be pointed is part of leadership too.
How might you activate the collective genius for a challenge in your life?
“Individually we are one drop,
together we are an ocean.”
– Ryunosuke Satoro
Japanese Author
