Imagination Fitness Holds The Key To Spotting Growth Opportunities

Are you harnessing your imagination to spot unexpected growth opportunities? ??

If not, it just might be what you’re missing when trying to see the forest through the trees.?

Imagination is a capacity we can all cultivate and systematize. I believe it’s one of the most important abilities that anyone (regardless of your role, business or industry) can develop in our chaotic times—and research is proving this to be true.

While there are many definitions of what imagination is, at the simplest level, it’s the ability to create an idea of something that doesn’t yet exist.

It allows us to explore what’s possible, much like a mining expedition to uncharted territory.

Some of the greatest inventions and most profitable companies came to be through imagination, where their founders tapped into a way of seeing and thinking that enabled them to build visionary and revolutionary things.

Einstein believed that imagination was more important than knowledge.?

It can be your innovation super power.?

Need a business case to be convinced of the power of imagination?

23andMe was inspired by Anne Wojcicki ’s frustration with the healthcare system, and how it’s set up as a sick system rather than a health system (I share this frustration, btw).?

Then Anne encountered a triggering event (a conversation she had with a scientist at a dinner) that then inspired her to begin imagining an entirely new business.

The DNA testing pioneer went public in a $3.5B merger with Richard Branson and @VG Acquisition Group in 2021.

As A.I. continues to progress, we need to get more precise about understanding and harnessing our unique human capacities like imagination.?

As the boundaries between humans and machines continue to shift, remember that computers are still far from possessing certain capabilities that are fundamental to imagination.?

I’ll reveal more soon about how to create the conditions for imagination (including a special formula), though for now I’ll share this:

Imagination has a trigger event.

It begins with a mental spark. These are triggers (or surprises) that throw everything into question, spark curiosity, and shift perceptions.

I’m dating myself here, though my shorthand for evoking this feeling: the 1990 C&C Music Factory song "Things that make you go hmmm..."

With imagination, there’s always room for growth and expansion. There’s also ways to target your focus, and I love working with leaders to help them zero in on where they want to focus their time.

Picasso once said, “everything you can imagine is real.”?

This sentiment really resonates with me, because it speaks to the idea that we can use the power of imagination fitness to create our futures.?

PS: I teach how to start harnessing your imagination (and many more abilities) in a 2-week sprint starting May 9th called Future Fit Fundamentals In The Age of AI. ??

Go here to register and get 10% off the course fee with the code EARLYBIRD10.

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About Regan Robinson

Regan Robinson is a futurist, business strategist, advisor and investor building an Imaginarium to empower visionaries to create growth futures for themselves, their companies and communities. She’s the creator of the Sketching Your Future Series,? a portfolio of done-with-you-experiences specially calibrated for busy founders and C-Suite executives to realize new possibilities of customers, strategies, products and business models by being future fit.?

After a powerhouse first 15 years leading strategy and business transformation at companies such as VICE Media and Edelman Digital (with revenue increases ranging from 40% - 300%+ across roles), working with clients such as Viacom, Stila Cosmetics and Anheuser-Busch InBev, and launching 3 startups (including co-founding digital innovation agency Highly Evolved at 27), Regan’s life was forever changed with her Mom’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2015. She began defining her own work-life philosophy, built on the cornerstones of futures thinking, well-being, imagination and intuition.

Ever since, she’s been applying her proprietary methodologies to shape the strategic thinking and foresight capacities of leaders from Fortune 500’s to progressive startups. Regan is passionate about developing alternative ways to build, grow and fund companies (and ultimately reduce the incidences of cancer and chronic disease). She’s been featured in Thrive Global, Jennifer Justice’s Takin’ Care of Lady Business and The Intentional Advantage podcast, hosts conversations about imagination with pioneering CEOs (such as Luminary founder Cate Luzio) and leads fireside chats at boutique resorts such as MARRAM in Montauk.?