A person’s vision is a powerful motivator towards action. Your vision translates into purpose and gives you a reason to get up in the morning. If you don’t show up, something important won’t be accomplished. Even the Bible says that people perish without a vision. When we think about a vision, we often think of something we can imagine into being, something that we can see in our head, or an idea which we are wanting to see realized.
Visioneering is the process by which you pursue turning your dream or idea into action. It is the process whereby ideas and convictions take on substance. The movement towards our vision can be powerful and life giving, as it often can breath purpose into our lives. You may have heard someone say 86 it, which means throw it out. At the Grove we say 96 it, which means to create it. I believe that permissioning others to create in an atmosphere that feels like an experimental laboratory empowers people to take risks with their idea and begin to engineer their vision.
I have heard it said that dreams are for daydreamers who sit and think through the shoulda’s, coulda’s, and woulda’s, without ever actually experiencing or pursuing a mission; however, dreams can be engineered. We must not allow our dreams and ideas to be aborted without attempting to engineer a way for a dream or an idea to be tried.
Often we put more effort on the thinking and less on the doing. I have found that you can’t think your way into right action; you must act your way into right thinking. This odd statement has been a strand of thought for me for some time now. When you do all the right things and you work hard in life, you can still come up short. Often we presume that if we can think it, we will be able to do it. I think that being able to see it makes it possible to do it. This statement simply says that good ideas grow into tangible realities the more we work at testing and acting on them. It calls for action, and reminds us that there is no shortcut if we are going to make good on our ideas. As long as it stays in the thought realm, we will not be able to see it.
At the Grove, we are working with others who have a dream, and who want to begin making good on that initiative. One exciting development has been the new Create96 initiative. Jeff and Mason, two individuals who co-work at the Grove, launched this creative movement. Recently the two of them put out a challenge. They developed a “30 in 30 Challenge Board” and asked people to create one thing in the next 30 days. Those who take on the challenge can build, paint, design, make, assemble, write, draw, record or do whatever it takes to create the item. Transformation through creation is their big idea. The power of this simple challenge is to move others to action. Jeff and Mason are helping people create and this is unlocking the creativity that often gets set aside and hinders the design steps we need to engineer our dream or idea.
Taking hold of a vision and beginning to work it is how we begin to see what it will be. The next time you have an idea or a dream do something, risk something and just go for it. Maybe Jeff and Mason can challenge you to create something as a first step to unlocking your visioneering skills.
