Failure of Imagination
Carly Fiorina
Building leaders & problem-solvers. Keynote Speaking I Consulting I Leadership Development I Author
The United States’ failure to get ahead of the September 11 terror attacks has been blamed, among?other things, on a “failure of imagination," as noted in the 9/11 Commission. When US forces invaded Iraq,?troops were maimed and killed by low-tech Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The most?sophisticated military force in the world was humbled because, by their own admission, they hadn’t imagined the enemy responding in this way.
A lack of imagination can be equally devastating to every leadership endeavor, including in business.?Whenever I talk about “seeing possibilities” as a critical characteristic of leadership, some?people are skeptical. Indeed, facts and figures matter more. Yes, the ability to take action based?on an interpretation of a balance sheet or an income statement is essential. But every innovation?and every problem solved begins with creativity, imagination, and “seeing possibilities.”
It takes imagination to begin looking for something useful to do with waste. It takes creativity to?ponder how to “clean” the oceans of trash, capture energy from the sun or power a rocket to the?moon. Each of these innovations started with someone seeing a set of?possibilities that had?previously been overlooked or dismissed.
It takes imagination to contemplate that someone who seems completely legitimate might actually be?a complete fraud. Sophisticated people get taken in regularly because they miss the possibility that someone might?not be whom they say they are. On the flip side, we routinely dismiss the capabilities of people because they don’t “look the part” or because they seem foreign to us. This, too, is a failure of?imagination.?Maybe these people are capable of far more than we assume.
And how often has your plan been upended or your results been disappointing because a customer, a competitor, or even an employee, reacted in an utterly di?erent way than you predicted?
When a problem has festered for a long time, creativity is required to solve it. The standard?answers haven’t worked, or the problem would have been solved long ago. How can we “think outside?the box” or see a new set of possibilities that will finally allow us to make progress on a?situation that has been a mess for a long, long time?
Creativity, imagination, and seeing possibilities don’t always come naturally in a work setting.?Most of the structures, processes, and expectations in the workplace encourage conformity,?consistency, predictability, and reliability. Most of the meetings in the workplace reinforce all?these things, and most cultures encourage people to “fit in.”
Here’s the rub: while creativity, imagination, and seeing possibilities are vital for innovation,?problem-solving, goal attainment, and progress, what’s required to encourage imagination frequently runs counter to how?work gets done - whether in business, government, politics, or the military. Creativity, imagination, and seeing possibilities aren’t predictable or always reliable. A great new?idea doesn’t occur consistently or on schedule. To be creative, we must be willing to “stick out”?rather than “fit in.”
Wise leaders know this and create the time and space for creativity and imagination - for?themselves and for others. In order to do so, three conditions should be met.
领英推荐
FIRST
The opportunity to “blue-sky” or “brainstorm” regularly is vital. In such sessions, there are?specific questions that must be top of mind:
SECOND
We must gather people together who will challenge each other. Although people may get brilliant?ideas when they are alone, those ideas were first spurred by a challenging and energizing event, encounter, or?conversation that forced an individual to think things through in a new way. And ultimately, any?brilliant idea needs to be “stress-tested” by allowing others to consider and evaluate it.
THIRD
When encouraging imagination, judgment must be suspended, minds must be opened, and nothing?should be "o? the table.” There will be plenty of time later to vet, prioritize, eliminate, or reject. When?seeing possibilities is required, every possibility must be considered equally.
All of this is hard work, made harder by the reality that it cuts against the grain of how we so?often work. And yet a failure of imagination can have terrible consequences for any organization and every leader. Without seeing?possibilities, we settle into the status quo, we underperform our capacity, we miss opportunities,?we neglect to prepare properly, and we let problems fester. In short, a failure of imagination?leads to more failure down the road.
Owner @ ProMR Solutions Pty | Government Certificate of Competency
1 年After 40 years one thinks, I have been around the block, I know it all. I had to accept I had to unlearn in order to learn again. Always keep an open mind, Always stay cool and let yourself be challenged by everyone around you. Stay open minded, learn from each other.
[email protected] Mobile # 03370680901
1 年Valenbtine's Day
Tic Tac Toe Innovation
1 年Excellent , indeed boosting creativity and thinking out of the box is fundamental to create great innovation!
Leadership and Business Advisory Consultant. Empowering organizations to Achieve Sustainable Growth
1 年Excellent article
Consultant and coach! Developing top leaders!
1 年EXCELLENT! An appropriate descriptor already used but I am going to second. IMPRESSIVE! When we met a decade ago in Orlando in meeting Pastor Bill hosted you also impressed me with your strategy on busy vs. effective. Heard concept before but you more insighfully communicated and conveyed the concept. ADVICE: your assessment of Captain Mike as an alternative appointment for this nomination for SecDef that at the time was struggling, exactly a decade ago, was spot on. Dr. WJP concurred???? ?CHESS. As a chessplayer who has stdied the game at an intermediate level, I have no difficulty with the concept of what-if analysis. HOWEVER, getting others who would literally NEVER think of doing wrong to do likewise can be excruciatingly frustrating…and just impossible at times! ?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hagel?wprov=sfti1