Leveraging our imagination to create our next chapter, organizationally or personally, is not about “rainbows and unicorns.” In fact, it rarely requires trying to think up something the world has never seen before. More often, imagination is an extension or new application of something we’ve experienced in a different context.
It’s one reason I am such a fan of being inspired by the company we keep. Role models can awaken our imagination to lives we might not otherwise have thought possible.
Have you experienced this?
Many years ago, I remember talking to a couple of families who homeschooled their children in creative ways that exploded the homeschooling stereotypes I carried. They inspired me to imagine how part-time, group-based homeschooling could become part of our family’s story. Similarly, conversations with others about home exchanges and sabbaticals sparked our family’s ability to imagine doing that for ourselves.
What about in your team, organization or even sector? Whose work is inspiring you to be more imaginative these days? Perhaps you need to carve out some time to explore beyond your organizational boundaries.
You’ll be relieved to know that we don’t have to scrunch up our forehead and concentrate really hard on being imaginative. Exposure to a wide range of experiences, conversations and ideas fuels our imagination, in ways that are grounded in real life. Life-giving possibilities…sounds like fun to me.