When was the last time you were asked to go beyond imagination? Not to use your imagination, but to go beyond it. To the unknown territory of the infinite potential where all ideas come from. Go crazy, jump into it, lose yourself, fly high. Or quiet down, relax, stop searching and start finding. If you were asked, did you understand why and know how to do it?
We live in a world of unknown unknowns, as Dave Snowden, creator of the Cynifin Framework, describes. Life is complex. Instead of acknowledging this, we routinely try to recognize patterns, identify known knowns, find obvious answers, and refer to best practices. However, in our mindless pursuit, we often end up with known unknowns and complicated solutions that will not solve the problem at all.
Leaving the comfort of the known to explore the potential of the unknown is not part of most meeting agendas. We spend our time in known territory looking for simple and safe answers to familiar questions. The conditioning is so strong that we can’t receive new ideas, and we can’t appreciate them either. Even when we have to or want to.
Here are the good news for hopeful space invaders who want to escape from a too predictable future. Instead of fleeing to the past for help or trying to force an unfitting model upon reality, you can stay present and embrace complexity. Give space to a little experimentation, and soon you will witness new possibilities and practices emerge. If you dare go beyond imagination and linger in the unknown for a while. Stop the clock and start to rock.
Wait a second, I can hear you say. Isn’t imagination the human superpower that allows us to see what is not, uncover hidden treasures, and gain new insights? Without it, we would not have moved away from the caves. We need it to explore, exploit, and expand. “If you can imagine it, you can do it and become it”.
Yes, but imagination can also be limited and limiting. Limited, because we can only imagine from what we know already. Limiting, because imagination is as efficient at anticipating barriers as it is at recognizing openings. When presented with a radical idea, most business leaders foresee catastrophes and failures before blockbusters and triumphs.
What we can imagine depends on our experience. If we had never seen a ship, it…
