To be future-proof, one of the must-have skills that we need to work on is cross-pollinating ideas across disciplines. This idea is expressed in the book, The Spark by using Cirque De Soleil as an example.

One of the aspects to Cirque's extraordinary freshness and vitality is how the artists cross-pollinate ideas from outside influences such as painting, film, and music. Many great artists get inspired by ideas and events totally unrelated to their chosen field. Cutting off from outside interests may limit our thinking. To accomplish this, Cirque deliberately teams up people from different backgrounds with different personalities to come up with something original.

A good starting point would be to take other people's ideas and run with them.  

The below excerpt from the book illustrates the idea of cross-pollination in music. 

Turning these random ideas into art requires focus and one way to achieve that would be deadlines. Limitations in terms of time and resources can be a good thing as the panicked mind starts coming up with crazy ideas it would never have otherwise. 

However, in an organizational setting, as more layers of hierarchy adds up, new rules will get in the way of creativity. When there are too many restrictions, they deaden the magic, and you start thinking about what you cannot do instead of what you can do. 

The author leaves us with some food for thought. 

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