Imagination…The Cure For Stuckness

I get quite a few requests to quickly offer a suggestion to some immediate and seemingly intractable problem.  Mostly they’re not such big issues except for the client worrying about them.   On a recent trip to a company holiday party in Boston…I’m Chair of Anthurium BOA…I found myself thinking about this while sitting in the airplane on the way there.

It occurred to me that the people asking me for advice wound up stuck not due to any lack of knowledge or intelligence or experience.  They all shared the problem of blinders…tunnel vision.

It’s always seemed to me that one of the most important skills for a senior executive is imagination, the ability to imagine better things and solutions to problems…and then figure out how to bring them to life.  It’s having the ability to throw off the blinders. Since I’m always working to improve the skills and effectiveness of executives, realizing how many wear blinders got me thinking about how to remove these blinders and restore…or maybe create for the first time…imagination.

As I wandered around Boston enjoying myself before the pre-party meeting with the CEO (I treated myself to lunch at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel), I kept thinking about imagination…and blinders.

The next morning on the flight home I was still thinking about this.  Not continuously of course, it just kept popping in and out of my consciousness as I thought about this and that.

I realized that my experience in Boston was the perfect methodology for releasing imagination, and it was also something that most executives find hard to do.  But anyone can do it.  All you need is the comfort and freedom of self to leave time completely unplanned and allow yourself to be unhooked from your technology. 

So unleash your imagination. Relax (an important first step), go someplace different by yourself with nothing planned, wander around at random, look at people and whatever else you happen by, talk to a few people, pet a dog, and let your mind wander unhindered, unimpeded, undirected,

You might start out with something you’ve been thinking about as I did.  Then just forget about it as you wander and let your unconscious do its work. 

I’m sure you all have had that aha moment in the shower or while jogging by yourself.  What I’m suggesting here is that you can unleash it at will by taking the time to free your mind and let it roam.  Become curious, become a child at play, forget the structure of your life and let your mind roam free.

You, and all around you, will be the better for it.