Peter Cripps

Seth Godin recently blogged that all artists are self-taught. He says:

“…the ability to connect the dots and to make an impact–sooner or later, that can only come from one who creates, not from a teacher and not from a book.”

Someone I was speaking to a few days ago asked me “so how do I become a versatilist”? Unfortunately, at the time, I did not have a good answer. Do you read more? Do lots of different stuff? Gather more experiences? Mix with interesting people? Sure, all of these will help but they alone do not make you a versatilist. What I now realize, helped along by what I read in Seth’s post, is that the really important thing is making more connections. Anyone can acquire knowledge but it’s making the right connections that counts.

Finally, just in case you need any more convincing of the importance of making connections, here’s Steve Jobs in his Stanford commencement speech:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Today we have the potential, with the web, of being connected like never before. We have the ability to reach out and connect with anyone and everyone. As long as we remember to hold on to our critical faculties (and some of our cynicism) we all have the ability to make connections and create like never before. So, go ahead and connect.