Spider-Man started in a comic book.
Nowadays you’ll find Spider-Man in big budget movies, stage shows, theme parks, children’s books, halloween costume contests, popular memes, backpack designs, and bedroom sheets. The character traveled over the years from a concept in Stan Lee’s mind to become a household name across the globe.
All sorts of good characters transcend the medium where they got their start. You don’t have to read the original Sherlock Holmes stories to know the character in the TV series (or the hat). You don’t have to read Charles Dickens to understand Scrooge McDuck.
And they don’t always stay the same. Batman in The Dark Knight and Batman in the campy 60s TV series are technically the same character.
Good insights just like good characters, can also transcend the medium where they got their start. An important recommendation or interesting key finding might find its way into news articles, presentation slide decks, social media posts, conversations over cups of coffee, and board room discussions.
They can also fade into obscurity. Especially if they’re hidden in the middle of a 200 page PDF.
So what are your transcendent insights? And what are you doing to help them move into the next medium?
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