What it is and how to spot it.
Transfer means applying a principle, technique, or way of paying attention learned in one field to a new problem. It requires separating what is essential from what depended on the original context. In the destination field, the materials, audience, and tests that determine whether the adaptation works can all change.
An analogy points out a resemblance. Transfer carries that resemblance into an action you can test. The research collected in How People Learn emphasizes understanding the original material well and practicing its application across different contexts.
How it appears in their fields.
Benjamin Franklin
After hearing musical glasses, Franklin kept the principle of making glass vibrate with moistened fingers. Working with a glassmaker, he adapted the mechanism into a set of tuned bowls nested on a pedal-driven spindle. The 1761 armonica made chords easier to play by bringing the glass rims closer together. The transfer from acoustics to musical performance is visible in how the instrument was adapted to what the player needed to do.[2]
Justin Timberlake
On Trolls, Timberlake contributed original songs and executive music production to the same project in which he voiced Branch. Can't Stop the Feeling! was written with Max Martin and Shellback. His work as performer and producer moved from a standalone song into a film with characters, scenes, and decisions shared with the animation team. In that context, composing means deciding what each scene needs from the music.[3][4]
Pharrell Williams
For his first Louis Vuitton show, presented on Pont Neuf in 2023, Pharrell produced the soundtrack and led the men's collection. A gospel choir, an orchestra, the runway, and the clothes all took part in the presentation. Music production carried over into a creative direction task in fashion. The rhythm and sequence of the show helped present a brand's collection in a particular place and moment.[5]
Carry a principle across
- Choose a technique you already know and describe the mechanism that explains why it works.
- Carry it into a task in another field. Note what you will keep and what must change in the medium, timing, or audience.
- Make a small version and ask someone from the destination field to try it.
Evaluate the result against a criterion from the new field. Identify which part of the idea worked there.
Follow the connection.
- National Academies Press · How People Learn, Learning and Transfer ↗
- The Franklin Institute · Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica ↗
- DreamWorks Animation · Justin Timberlake’s music and voice roles on Trolls ↗
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences · 2017 Original Song credits ↗
- LVMH · Pharrell Williams Lights Up Paris for Louis Vuitton ↗