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.
Continue reading “Imagine What’s Real”Active Imagining
Reimagining your next chapter can sound like a passive experience of solitary daydreaming, but it’s anything but.
Continue reading “Active Imagining”Memories Fuel Imagination
Our imagination is fed by our memory.
Seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it. Our imagination pulls us toward a new future, but it’s anchored in our past.
It’s very hard for us to imagine something of which we have never seen any of the component parts. We can put them together in novel ways, but if we are working from a limited library of images in the first place, our ability to be creative is stifled.
Continue reading “Memories Fuel Imagination”Positive Postmortems
This past week, I attended one event and heard about another that were both very well put together. Let’s learn from what these organizers and facilitators did really well.
The first was a meeting at a post-secondary institution. One of the participants posted on social media that it was refreshing to attend. I asked her to share what made the session so good. Her prompt, verbatim reply is printed here, with her permission:
A Strategic Race
Did you become as addicted to watching the Olympics as I did?
Two things stood out to me as I marvelled at the athletes’ accomplishments; I trust their relevance extends far beyond Athletics to those of us involved in less competitive or visible pursuits:
- Athletes were clear on their goal. There was a moment when the first runner across the finish line was featured on the screen, just as an enormous “Woot!” could be heard behind her. It was one of her competitors, celebrating enthusiastically. That runner barely made it onto the television coverage, but she was rejoicing over a Personal Best with far more gusto than the gold medallist. She knew what she was going after.