Imagination: our greatest asset in business — and in life

Ask a roomful of successful CEOs, “What is the most critical ingredient
for business success?” and you’ll hear a lot of different answers.

Many will say, “leadership.” Others will say, “passion.” Others will give answers ranging from “innovation” to “commitment to excellence.”

All of these answers are good, and they are all true in their own way. For myself, I believe the most critical ingredient for business success is imagination.

In fact, I believe that imagination is the most powerful force in human history — yet it is also the most under-utilized human resource, perhaps especially so in business.

The invention of the smart phone is a great example of the power of imagination in business.

Back in the dark ages of 1998, the world’s biggest mobile phone seller was Motorola. But they lost control of that market because they assumed the future would be a straight-line projection of the past.

Meanwhile a Canadian start-up called Research in Motion (RIM) was busy imagining a very different future: one where your mobile phone was a communications hub for voice and email. They launched the Blackberry, and with it the smartphone industry, in 2003.

RIM’s engineers weren’t smarter than Motorola’s. They were simply focused on asking different questions, the kind that provoke an imaginative response. Questions such as: What would our customers really love to have, that they don’t have now? That led to: What if you could answer emails on your phone?

Next came Steve Jobs, Apple, and a whole new imaginative tour de force that resulted in the iPhone.

The Blackberry and Apple story remind us that imagination is the ability to conceive of what does not yet exist. That’s why imagination so often starts with those basic brain-teaser questions: What if…? How about…? Why can’t we…? And that all-important question: What would our customers love to have, that they don’t have now?

Using your imagination effectively requires, first, that you are committed to it. Imagination is like a muscle: you can ignore it and let it atrophy, or you can exercise it and make it grow.

Feed your imagination by staying on a continual learning curve. Stimulate it by looking for intriguing trends (and problems) in the outside world, beyond your familiar field of reference. Learn all you can about specific problems. More knowledge always leads to more imagination. The more you know, the more you can imagine.

Encourage your imagination by listening to your inner voice. One person who practiced this was Masaya Nakamura, the man whose company invented “Pac Man” and launched the videogame revolution.

You might think the CEO of a worldwide digital entertainment empire would spend all of his time surrounded by computers. But he recommended that each of us set aside a few minutes of every day to go off by ourselves and listen to the silence. That is where inspiration comes from, he said.

Thomas Edison said the same thing. So did IBM’s Thomas Watson, which is why for years IBM’s slogan was the single word “THINK.” (And, after studying a bit of Watson’s story, I believe his slogan actually referred to imagination.)

Of course, the greatest way to liberate your imagination is — dare to dream. People talk a lot about the importance of “vision” in business, but what is vision? If imagination is the ability to conceive of what does not yet exist, then vision is the ability to see what isn’t there (yet).

Back in the dawn of aviation, when people were still questioning the value of air travel, one of the brave early airline pilots was also the author of a classic children’s story, The Little Prince.

This author-aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, once said: “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man or woman contemplates it, bearing within their mind the image of a cathedral.”

A powerful way to bring what you imagine into reality is to “live in your vision.” After you have a vision, live in it. Keep the image of your dream or your idea constantly central in your mind, vividly alive.

This advice may sound airy-fairy. Actually, this is the most down-to-earth, pragmatic counsel you can possibly follow.

The toughest members of the U.S. armed forces — the Navy SEALS — are taught this technique of “living in your vision” in an incredibly physical way. Let me tell you one of things they do during their year-long training course.

The SEAL candidates stand in freezing cold surf up to their chests, holding a heavy rifle over their heads, for hour after hour. Meanwhile their instructors are running up and down the beach, screaming at them:

“Don’t just ‘wish’ that you were warm and dry, sometime in the future! See yourself as being right there next to a crackling fire, all hot and toasty — right now!”

The instructors yell:

“Don’t tell yourself that your arms are getting tired. See yourself bursting with strength! Visualize balloons tied to your rifle, pulling it over your head!”

One SEAL who went through this training explained:

“Your drill captains constantly urge you to see yourself already on the mountaintop, already enjoying the benefits. And you know, when you’re standing there in that 35-degree water with your rifle over your head, once you start to visualize that fireplace and imagine the warmth and power coursing through your veins, a funny thing starts to happen. The rifle doesn’t seem so heavy anymore. The water doesn’t feel quite so cold. You catch yourself spontaneously thinking: I can do this!”

Living in your vision means acting “as if” your vision was already realized…even if all you do is take some small, symbolic step. This move has a tremendous impact on your subconscious. It helps you find the way to take your vision into reality.

In other words, just like the SEAL said: We become what we imagine. And as a visionary business leader could tell you: We create what we imagine, too.

The world is waiting for business leaders with passion, determination — and especially imagination.

You can imagine your own job or future and then invent it and “hire yourself.” Despite all our challenges, this is the best economy in history in which to do that.

You can imagine products and services that will revolutionize your local market — or your entire industry.

You can imagine the stories that will sell your company even if you’re offering a product or service that nobody has heard of before. (Like a smartphone in 1998.)

If you’re just starting out in your business career, those of us who are business veterans are excited to see what you’re going to come up with.

What kind of future will you imagine for yourself…and for all of us?

— Jay Walker, Upside Founder & CEO