Synthesizing…The View from the Supermarket

 As the person who introduced the concept of “a synthesizing mind,” I am often ask for examples of synthesizing. In particular, I’m asked for instances that don’t simply involve scholars putting together lots of information in a credible and accessible way, which is what I know how to do reasonably well and what I’ve tried to do in my writings, as well as my teaching and mentoring.

To the rescue: The concept of a supermarket.

 Supermarkets are elaborations of the much older (and once more familiar) grocery store. And grocery stores (or corner stores or convenience sorts) are themselves extensions of trading posts, farmers’ markets, or simple exchanges between neighbors (or even antagonists).

Supermarkets contain and display far more products—both a variety of brands and numerous exemplars of each brand—than the proverbial “corner grocery store.” Once restricted to food, supermarkets now typically sell just about anything that can be useful in the kitchen, the bathroom, or—indeed—the basement and the out-of-doors. They frequently add, and sometimes drop, items, brands, even whole sectors. They may display technical information about ingredients and per unit pricing. And, depending on the competition and the demand, they may well re-arrange their shelves—so that those of us who are used to going to one place for fruits and vegetables, another for non-prescription drugs, still another for soft and not-so-soft drinks, may need to reorient ourselves or ask an employee “Where, again, are the peanuts now?”

 How to connect markets to minds?

Think of the contents of the supermarket as the contents of a human mind—or, if you prefer, of the human brain. As individuals, we differ from one another in how much of the geography of the market we store and retain, how easily we upgrade or revise it, how orderly—or disorderly – we proceed as we draw on the items in the market for tasks that we need to carry out.

What’s it like to have and to take advantage of a synthesizing mind?  

When you have any kind of a project or assignment—initiated by yourself or imposed by others—you begin by surveying the current contents of the mental supermarket. You draw on what it useful and put it together in ways that are helpful for the executing the project. Sometimes, the assignment is routine and you can ease into second gear. But whenever the assignment has any complexity, you need to be more flexible and more imaginative—figuring out what is to be drawn on, in which order, and for what purpose(s).

 Compare the weekly “routine” shop for the usual goods—as opposed to a shop for a special event—say, a meal where you are serving important guests (and trying out a complex new recipe!), or purchases for a cluster of hungry weekend guests, or stocking up in anticipation of a crisis where one may not have access to the usual goods…and necessities. These latter examples each require a novel combination of elements, and knowing how to assemble these elements for a specific goal requires synthesizing. 

By the same token, consider what happens when the supermarket itself undergoes a radical rehaul. You need to “unlearn” certain habits, and initiate other patterns, with the hope that they will become second nature—at least until the next major re-assemblage asserts itself.

So far, I have conceived of the supermarket from the perspective of the customer—whether engaged in a frequent and familiar routine, or embarking on an unfamiliar and novel assignment. Time to shift, then, to the roles of those in charge of the supermarket, whether in a single locale or encompassing a whole chain.

A manager of a supermarket needs to know its current contents, how it can be maintained and restocked at the right pace, what to do when a new product is introduced, or (less happily) when a product turns out to be deficient or anachronistic in some respect. The manager needs to have a competent staff—individuals who can handle everything from unpacking, to stocking and restocking, to ringing up the purchases, to handling returns and complaints, and the like. And of course, when something does not go right on any front, the manager has to address the challenges as quickly and effectively as possible. The “mental store” of the manager needs to be as filled, flexible, and foresighted as possible.

It’s worth noting that the rearrangement may come about because of mandates from the makers/sellers of the product—or from rewards or kickbacks that the makers/sellers offer.    Usually, the manager will go along with such mandates, but of course, one can also reject them and even drop the product which now has strings attached.

Finally, consider the leadership of the supermarket, the chain, or indeed, the whole sector (think Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s, A&P, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Cost-co). To begin with, the leader needs to have as well-stocked and as flexible knowledge as the workers or the manager—or to trust and rely on individuals who can share their knowledge reliably and “just in time.”

But far more important: The leader cannot simply honor and maintain the status quo, the conventional wisdom. (That’s why we no longer have A& Ps, or Woolworths, in every American community). The leader needs to reflect on how things could be different, how they should be different, and—equally important—what should remain the way it has been, or only be marginally altered. All of this requires piecing together elements of the supermarket in new ways. 

Here, the leader in the world of supermarkets is, roughly speaking, like the leader of any commercial enterprise—be it selling hardware, cars, stocks, or even gossip. The synthesizing mind—as well as the capacity to draw on other synthesizing minds—is a necessary point of departure. But the leader of the “food industry”—like the leader of any sector—must draw as well on what I’ve termed the creating mind. As a leader, his or her primary assignment is to create a compelling story—or narrative—and convince customers (ranging from food supplier to individual or group purchasers) that the new story is compelling and worth accepting. Just think about how the story of Trader Joe’s (healthy food at a reasonable price, with a well-curated but limited selection) is very different from the story of Whole Foods (healthy food in all their wide variety, with some very pricey items), and how both are very different from Market Basket (inexpensive food—with no special emphasis on “health food”). (Perhaps the ultimate innovator here has been Jeff Bezos, who has in effect challenged the whole notion of a physical, concrete market.) 

 In these respects, the synthesizing mind needs to be a resource on which the creative mind can draw—and not in any sense an obstacle or a limitation. And indeed, after the initial creative breakthrough, it may make sense for the creator to turn over the enterprise to individuals whose synthesizing and disciplinary strengths are more evident.

 Closing Note:

I have sought to wrest the “synthesizing mind” from the professors (including myself) and apply it instead to the realm of buying and selling food. But I would maintain that this analysis can be applied as well to any profession—as examples see my blog posts on playwriting, policy-making, and on finance (click for links). 

I thank Lynn Barendsen, Shelby Clark, and Ellen Winner for their helpful suggestions.