The Strategy of Imagination

Umair Haque shares these thought on Harvard Business School blog.

"Today’s economics are in shock – numerous shocks are rolling across the global economic landscape.

"As economics changes, so must strategy. What was “strategic” yesterday is less and less strategic today.

"And that requires us to have strategic imagination: to be able to imagine fundamentally new possibilities for truly strategic behaviour.

"Now, that’s hard work. Very few companies are able to tap – let alone master – strategic imagination.

"Why not? Strategic imagination is tremendously difficult because it requires us to put aside yesterday’s tired assumptions and orthodoxies, and begin to actively rethink from scratch the way value can be, should be, must be, will be created.

"The surest, most lethal killer of strategic imagination is being reined in by orthodoxy: thinking that tomorrow must be like yesterday."

One of my favorite blogs is Principled Innovation by Jeff De Cagna. Jeff discusses Strategic Planning vs. Strategic Imagination.

Jeff says, "This is the definitive explanation of what is wrong with strategic planning in any form:  it is grounded in the belief that tomorrow must be like yesterday. Above all else, it is this deep-seated assumption that has made strategic planning an enduring feature of the association landscape. The vast majority of leaders in our community are terrified by the prospect of imagining a future that looks radically different from a past many still revere and a present they find disquieting but familiar. Associations have always been more comfortable with incrementalism, despite the fact that it is a total mismatch with the times, and thus threatens our community’s future prospects."

Jeff address a common problem for any organization. Education is no different. But we should be. We spend all day with students who have amazing imaginations. Who better than the kids we teach each day to come up with the most wild and fantastic stories. Who better than our kids to imagine some of the most outlandish ideas, machines, inventions, and situations.

We spend all day teaching students, but the time has come to take a lesson from our students.

It is the educator, who above all, should be able to imagine a new future, a new tomorrow. It is the educator, the one who encourages the imagination of students everyday, who should encourage the imaginations of each other to embrace a new strategy. It is we who teach students how to think, who should be able to think about what it is we will have to do in the future to be successful for our students.

Maybe we aren't experts at strategic planning, but we should be the experts of strategic imagination.

Comments

[Andrea Hildreth]

YES - let's allow and encourage students to take the driver's seat in their education. We can still be in the car, but in the passenger seat. We can still hold the road map, but it will be the option of the driver to respect our directions, or try taking their own unique route. And the rules-of-the-road (e.g.: in whatever you do you must be kind) they are still valued and applied.

[Rob Jacobs]

Andrea, love your metaphor. Question is, do they need a license or can we give them free reign to imagine and invent?