WHAT IS SCENIUS?
“I was an art student and, like all art students, I was encouraged to believe that there were a few great figures like Picasso and Kandinsky, Rembrandt and Giotto and so on who sort of appeared out of nowhere and produced artistic revolution. As I looked at art more and more, I discovered that that wasn’t really a true picture. What really happened was that there were sometimes very fertile scenes involving lots and lots of people—some of them artists, some of them collectors, some of them curators, thinkers, theorists, people who were fashionable and knew what the hip things were—all sorts of people who created a kind of ecology of talent. And out of that ecology arose some wonderful work….
So I thought that originally those few individuals who’d survived in history—in the sort of ‘Great Man’ theory of history — they were called ‘geniuses’. But what I thought was interesting was the fact that they all came out of a scene that was very fertile and very intelligent. So I came up with this word ‘scenius’—and scenius is the intelligence of a whole… operation or group of people. And I think that’s a more useful way to think about culture, actually. I think that—let’s forget the idea of “genius” for a little while, let’s think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work…”
“Scenius stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.” This view of scenius is a useful shorthand to help us see the advance of culture and values within a whole society.
We believe this catalytic idea corresponds with the biblical teaching on the body of Christ—the idea that together the body of Christ has everything it needs to get the job done. Scenius is perhaps another way of understanding the dynamics of the Holy Spirit moving through the collective people of God—hence the name the Movement Leaders Collective.
The history of art and science is crammed with episodes of scenius. In modern literature there was the the Bloomsbury Group, the Inklings in Oxford, Algonquin Round Table in New York. In art there was Paris in the 20s, the lofts in Soho (NYC), and more recently Burning Man in Black Rock, Nevada. In science there was the Lunar Society in England, the Manhattan Project in the US, Building 20 at MIT, Boeing’s SkunkWorks, and the ever-growing Silicon Valley.
SCENIUS core values
We want to activate the Spirit-empowered scenius in key movement leaders across the world. To do this, we foster a scenius environment through the following core values:
A Gift Economy
We come bearing gifts. We are generous and open to others, offering ourselves and what we have. But we also recognize that other people have gifts to give us. Best practices, frontier learning, battle-won wisdom, treasures and insights are all shared. We don’t only give and we don’t only receive: learning is mutual. We find both correction and direction in learning from other’s experience which is generously shared.
Mutual appreciation and respect
We each have an understanding, acceptance and honor for the unique talent, artistry and contribution of the various members. There is no ‘smartest person in the room’; each has their expertise and experience to share. Everyone has a part to play and adds value. Scenius environments can be the intersection of experiences, understandings, capacities and cultures.
Grappling with ‘a wicked problem'
The group is brought together through the attempt to solve a seemingly impossible problem or great prize, for example the Manhattan Project, the Clapham Sect, or the Inklings. We come together to solve the problems that our colleagues and our various cultures face. Like a jigsaw puzzle, we can only solve the problem by piecing together all the parts that are scattered in the room.
Rapid exchange of tools and techniques
As soon as something is invented, it is shared. And then critiqued, iterated and improved. Ideas flow quickly because they are flowing inside a common language, sensibility, and community. The common good and the communal process are prized over individual breakthrough, position, or acclaim.
Network effects of success
When a record is broken, a hit happens, or breakthrough erupts, the success is claimed by the entire scene—shared story and shared success. This empowers the scene to further success.
Tolerance for novelties
Innovation and new ideas are welcomed and do not encounter negative resistance from nay-sayers. The renegades and mavericks necessary for innovation are protected in the buffer zone of the scenius.
Risk as normative
Exploration, prototypes, and bold innovative moves are applauded by the group, subtlety is appreciated, and friendly competition sparks creative collaborative breakthroughs. Scenius can be thought of as the positive aspect of peer pressure.
SCENIUS DYNAMICS
Each scenius environment offers:
• A space of revelation and retreat, for meeting with God.
Come to be refreshed, inspired and restored. With laughter, input, discussion, and prayer, they offer a space where you don’t have to be ‘in charge’ or ‘carry the can’ of responsibility. Tend to your heart, stretch your mind, and expand your imagination as we learn together about activating the body of Christ.
• A place of connection and peer learning, for making friends.
Stand shoulder-to-shoulder, heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind with others, as we seek to be comrades not competitors. Break the pattern of isolation and loneliness of influential leadership and create a relational network of support, accountability, and prayer. Learn from, and share wisdom with one other.
• A place of creativity and innovation, for movement leadership.