Boundary-spanner

I am having a great holiday. Tonight is a real treat - my younger brother is here with the family and he is staying overnight.

He just dropped a clanger in a conversation - listen to this - "boundary-spanner." I have asked Jonno to be a my guest-blogger tonight. Over to you,now, Jonno.....

Ever wondered where good ideas come from? most of them aren't new ideas at all but just ideas from somewhere else which have been 'transported' to your local context- how do they get transported? some ideas are transported by Google, some ideas are transported by the news, but most of the ideas that we get are transported by word of mouth. most people understand that already but where is that 'word of mouth' ultimately coming from?

It's the word of mouth from people who are connecting to areas that are beyond your own reach, beyond your own natural limits, etc... the boundary-spanner is that kind of person - someone who crosses organisational, social, cultural, even political (when was the last time you spoke to a neo-Marxist and their view on the world?) boundaries by the type of personality, by their lifestyle, by the position they have, etc - if you don't have a boundary spanner in your network of friends, you might be listening to recycled old ideas and could be in danger of being caught in a kind of cultural cul de sac...

That's not to say that there is a type-casted boundary-spanner- you can choose to be someone who is connected to a diverse range of groups and look to benefit from multi-memberships.... but also take a look at your friends and beyond that your acquaintances and see if any of them are 'exhibiting' boundary-spanning tendencies. Over to you, now Andrew.

Wow!!! Thanks for that Jonno - powerful stuff!!
OK readers... what do you think?