I had what I thought was a pretty great idea. It had been refined through conversations with some great colleagues, and I had people willing to support it from all over the world. I’d shared the idea with some senior leaders and one of them outlined the idea during a high profile event – I couldn’t believe it and fist pumped the air. But then one of the other speakers said something along the lines of, ‘That’s nice but it’s very idealistic’. A part of me was crushed.
‘Idealistic’? Dismissed!
But it got me thinking. Why do we assume that idealism (imagining an ideal situation or outcome) isn’t a good thing? Why did I feel crushed with that feedback? If you think about it, when was the last time you heard someone say something was ‘idealistic’ and mean it as a good thing? As I was reflecting I realised that calling something out as idealistic was a way to dismiss it and move on. It was a way of saying that the person who suggested the idea is naïve or inexperienced, or just doesn’t really understand how the world works.
So why do we need idealism? And why is not celebrating idealism and not encouraging it a really significant problem? Without idealism we remain in the status quo. We tweak around the edges of existing structures or ways of thinking when we try to move things forward, rather than re-imagining and asking the ‘what if?’ questions. Without idealism we don’t allow ourselves to think bigger, dream of what might be possible, or go for the ‘moon shot’.
“Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere” Einstein
There are many situations where this isn’t too much of a problem and there are lots of times when refining and tweaking are incredibly important pursuits that can transform things. Think of the refining of an assembly production line – shaving seconds off one part of that process can transform the end result.
But there are some situations where the type of change that is needed is bigger or systemic. When you’re sailing, adjusting course is different to completely changing course. Wholesale change requires a different kind of problem to catalyse the action and different skills to complete the action.
How to be idealistic
Which leaves us with a question. How can we have more idealism? Almost always we need idealism when we need profound change, and that almost always requires structural change (a change of status quo or infrastructure). That can happen in two ways. A radical turning of the ship and a dismantling of the status quo – which usually requires a totally fresh start. Or, an under the radar small scale exploration of the ‘what if?’ that enables you to show others how the re-imagined way could be.
“some men see things as they are and say ‘why?’, I dream of things that never were and say ‘why not?’” Kennedy
To achieve either of these we need to create opportunities to be mentally free of the historic or current constraints (whether those are time, infrastructural, or skills based). We need to give ourselves permission to imagine. In our experience that happens when we’re intentional about it, when we make time in a conducive place, and almost always with people who are different to you, who bring different perspectives and experiences. And the most important part? Work out what’s stopping you, clear the way, and just start!
little BIG ideas
A little summary of this big idea using the 1000 most common words
If we do not dream about what might be or what could be, we might miss out on amazing new ways of doing things and fixing big and small problems. We need to make sure we take time to dream and imagine great ways of living and being great friends to each other and to the world. We need to ask 'what if?' and 'why not?'.