Imagine2022
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." Albert Einstein
As December speeds by, many leaders and teams are looking forward into 2022. The New Year represents a new beginning - a time for personal resolutions and goals. It is an important time for leaders and teams to reflect on 2021 and commit to a greater 2022. It is a time to imagine.
Imagining takes us back to our childhood where we operated without boundaries, pretending to be warriors or princesses. In unoccupied moments we travel backward and forward reflecting on events in our lives, actions we took, decisions we made (beating ourselves up perhaps) and projecting ourselves (and our organizations) forward imagining desired scenarios and achievements.
I've used imagination when helping organizations develop culture. We imagine first, then create a culture narrative which describes walking through the door of our organization describing what we see and feel. Imagining removes the boundaries of reality. It allows people to think and create unbridled. This is the real innovation and creative thinking we want for our people and teams. Indeed, reality must eventually set in. We can't realistically sell donuts on the moon but we ought to release our people to imagine and share what they envision. From here we can marry these future images and scenarios with the reality of time, budgets and other resources. Here are two examples.
"Maggie, imagine for a moment, without boundaries, yourself in September of 2022 operating at your peak. Describe for me what you see."
"Seth, imagine our team sitting here next year in this very room. What would you want us to be saying about 2022?"
Gather your team now or soon after the New Year and spend some time imagining. You'll be amazed at what warriors and princesses show up!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell