Making Connections
Cutchall Management is Bringing Tasty Innovations
to Nebraska Crossing by Ann Summers
T
he gestalt theory of history says
that one cannot consider the
development of any particular piece of
the modern world in isolation. Rather,
the modern world is the result of a web
of interconnected events, and stands in
opposition to the common (and boring)
linear version of history, where all
actions have a designated end and march
along in tidy lines. I saw this concept
illustrated in the late 70’s by science
historian James Burke in a BBC series
Greg Cutchall
called Connections. Its alternative view of
history was that the interplay of the results of events was what drives
history and innovation. In his narratives, Burke traced the linkage
of events as seemingly dissimilar as the invention of the Pike Square
formation in warfare, canned foods and refrigeration.
I wondered what really happens when people like those in
Connections actually make these connections. And why do they
make them, when so many others don’t? When Dupont’s Stephanie
Kwolek was searching for cheaper sources of gasoline at the start of
the energy crisis she discovered the polymer, Kevlar, one of the most
durable substances in the world. But how did she know she had
something worth keeping, when most of her results were typically
“In the Omaha area, Cutchall’s
new restaurants include First Watch,
Burger Star and Big Cheese.”
thrown out? The business luminary, Steve Jobs, said “Creativity is
just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did
something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it,
they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.
That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and
synthesize new things.”
A rendering of Cutchall’s dual concept restaurant at the Nebraska Crossing
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