Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary is an adjective used to describe something that relates to multiple branches of knowledge.
Our education system as children and young adults tends to separate out individual subjects. Especially in grade school, there are clear lines between math time and history time, and the extent of any crossover is maybe a math problem about a historical subject.
In the world of higher education, like universities, there is more room for interdisciplinary learning, but course catalogs and professors are still largely categorized by department.
Exiting academia and entering the real world, things are rarely so black and white.
Worldview: Holistic and diverse
The world is a holistic place full of nuance, complexity, and interdependency. Learnings from one area of life often have applications in other areas, and can even shape seemingly unrelated ideas and actions subconsciously.
Real world learning combines objective knowledge with individual and collective experiences and philosophies. Fields of study don’t actually exist in vacuums, so we shouldn’t isolate their practitioners either.
A holistic worldview invites collaboration and innovation that’s inclusive, creative, and functional. It is a worldview that acknowledges that others see and experience the world differently than you do. Those differences are a starting point for improved understanding and the discovery of new ideas.
Behavior: Actively seek out other disciplines
Seek out people, ideas, and perspectives from both job functions and entire industries outside of your own. A product manager’s sprint planning methodology could be applicable to your marketing project, and principles of advertising for consumer goods could inspire your next software sales pitch.
Ask a friend who works in finance how a global event you read about in the news impacted their clients. Read industry publications from science or economics. Listen to a podcast about public policy, or art.
Curate diverse sources and perspectives for yourself, from the people you engage with to the material you consume. Do this across informal social circles, across departments within your company, and across learning you do in and outside of work.
Even if your work is highly specialized, or perhaps especially if your work is highly specialized, a completely different viewpoint could be the key to a problem you’ve been trying to solve or the spark for a groundbreaking new idea.
As always, The Collection continues to grow. Check it out if you’re interested in digital sociology, design, business, and personal growth.