Our imaginations are already super active at start-up but later, when you become comfortable, successful, well established, you might need your imagination even more. Why? To keep ahead of your competitors, to continue to lead your industry, to not suddenly find your business is languishing on the sidelines as disruptors change everything in ways you’d not imagined.
Here are four strategies to activate and sustain your imagination so that when you need it most, when your competitors are at your door, you’re less likely to feel it slipping away:
1.GROW YOUR PERSONAL IMAGINATIVE FITNESS:
In your breaks in the day (and I know there might not be many) give yourself permission to imagine, to allow your mind to wander to thoughts that are not always task-related. In other words, try not to focus on your to-do list and instead, open up your mind to the endless possibilities.
While you can schedule in breaks (like a walk at day’s end), ideas from your imagination can also come, seemingly, unexpectedly in the natural breaks in your day; over breakfast, while driving or commuting, picking up the kids from school, walking the dog, even brushing your teeth or waiting for a Zoom meeting to begin. Don’t waste idle moments; use them to imagine.
As you build your imaginative fitness, you may find you start to the look at the minutiae of life, those particular tasks or challenges, in different ways and sometimes, see surprising solutions or alternatives ways of doing things. Those a-ha moments.
2. ACTIVATE AND SUSTAIN IMAGINATION IN TEAMS
When everyone on your team is willing to share their original ideas, it can lead to important breakthroughs at critical moments. However, there are also often barriers to sharing such as a concern about how those ideas will be received. Will other team members think you foolish, might they laugh or not take you seriously anymore.
Building imaginative capabilities in teams requires a step-by-step approach.
A first step is to create a listening culture where all ideas are welcome and judgements set aside. Imaginative listening, encouraging all to participate, is a leadership skill that can be taught and learnt.
3. ACTIVATE AND SUSTAIN IMAGINATION ACROSS TEAMS
Barriers also exist around sharing ideas between teams especially if those teams more often work independently, in silos. The concern around how ideas will be received can also loom large in this setting and again, requires the skill of imaginative listening to establish a culture where ideas are welcomed, judgements and criticism set aside in favour of discovering the seeds for inspiration, for creativity and innovation.
4. HOW TO BUILD AN IMAGINATIVE FITNESS
At Imagination Session®, our goal is to encourage imagination, to teach you the skill of imaginative listening to foster cultures that are open to and welcome new ideas. Also, to hone your imaginative fitness so imagination becomes a source you turn to when you need it most, so that you retain and sustain imagination past the start-up phase.
Reach out if you’d like to know more to dawn@imaginationsession.com or check out our website at https://www.imaginationsession.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dawn Adams is the founder of Imagination Session®. She helps businesses develop an imaginative fitness to enable them to access their creativity and innovative ideas beyond the start-up phase. Dawn is an imagination coach, happiness coach, writer, journalist, educator and speaker with a primary focus now on offering group and one-on-one imagination coaching for positive change.
LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/in/dawnmadams
WEBSITE: https://www.imaginationsession.com/
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