Think tanks and the power of imagination
Organised by Soapbox
Speakers: Brian Reich (Author of The Imagination Gap and former Director of Policy Communications for Bloomberg 2020) and Rose Abdollahzadeh (Director of Research Partnerships, Chatham House). Moderated by Naomi Isaacs.
Summary
In many ways, the role for think tanks is to map the pathways to a different future. Evidence is vital to this process — but it takes a leap of imagination to first of all ask ‘what if’. It takes imagination to explore big challenges from new and different perspectives. And it takes imagination to think about life in a different timeframe — or different place.
Imagination can also help think tanks better connect with audiences. To help them bring ideas and evidence to life in more relatable, understandable and wonderful ways. From video games to board games, fiction to film, creative thinking can transform policy research from the abstract to the real. And in ways that can speak to people more powerfully than data alone.
Hosted by Naomi Isaacs, brand strategist at the think tank design studio Soapbox, this session convenes a panel of leading policy communicators to inject an extra spark of imagination into day two of the conference.
This inspiring session focused on imagination as its central theme. Why is imagination important for think tanks? What can using our imagination help us to do? And how can we all unlock and apply the power of our imagination in our day-to-day lives?
Brian Reich — author of the ‘The Imagination Gap’ and former Director of Policy Communications for Bloomberg 2020 — started by giving an overview of how imagination is defined and how it differs from terms such as ‘innovation’ or ‘creativity’. Brian shared his thoughts on the importance of using imagination — ‘our greatest natural resource’ — and what traditionally holds us back from using it to its full effect. He also shared some useful practical advice for how we can spark our imagination and get out of pre-existing patterns, from something as simple to changing our Zoom backgrounds every day to designing hypothetical t-shirts.
Managing Director of Research Partnerships at Chatham House, Rose Abdollahzadeh, then talked us through the SNF CoLab project. This project is centred around exploring big ideas that can help us imagine a better world. Rose shared updates on their collaboration with the London Design Biennale on ‘Design in an Age of Crisis’, as well as their recently launched FutureScape London work — a project that looks at the future of central London through exploring Chatham House’s own Piccadilly Circus neighbourhood.
Three key takeaways
- Finding ways to spark your imagination that help you go beyond your normal ways of thinking about things is an important part of the process, particularly in the current context.
- Collaboration is vital. Partnering with others brings multiple perspectives and opens up new ways of thinking, bringing to life the power of the collective imagination.
- Conquer fear — and have fun. Being afraid is the biggest hurdle that stops people using their imagination; fear of being shut down, being seen as silly, or being the odd one out. In the words of Brian himself — ‘Go big or go home’.
From the chat box
A traditional shoe greeting to kick off the session
I’m wearing pink shoes
No shoes here.
I wish I had my pink shoes
black socks
No shoes!
I’m wearing slippers
yellow flops!
do slippers count?
Slipper socks here!
Pink pineapple socks
No shoes for me either 🙂
Hi from Berlin in blue socks.
I am wearing slippers as well. Or house shoes as you might choose to call them.
Bathroom slippers
orange shoes! (hi everyone, sorry to be joining in late, but with the right outfit it seems)
Brian — what advice do you have for us at the moment where our options for changing routine right now are limited?
‘Languishing’ is a super useful way to describe * waves hands at everything *
You have to work hard right now to feed your imagination. I find reading in print to be a really important alternative to all the screen time we are using, and varying subject. I do a lot of work in politics, so I have been reading more about arts, culture, science than usual. And if you can get outside (which I know rules have prevented for a while in many cases), make a point to walk different routes, look for different things. Even basic stuff helps.
How does imagining big ideas play out in a very partisan political context? What about the risk of being misinterpreted?
Really like that idea of trying to challenge just doing things the way we always do, a new zoom background every day. Might try that!
Rose, have you found the approach that you’ve been using in the SNF coLab projects having a wider impact within organisational culture/team discussions etc at Chatham house?
Yes, collaboration across silos is huge as Rose says. For example, working in the digital space, I’ve found that exploring new tools and what they are capable of doing can help spark ideas about new things to do … but policy wonks might not have time to do all that, so working together matters.
I was lucky to film one of IDEO’s famous brainstorming sessions a few years ago and it was very exciting. They love to bring in people from hugely different disciplines to brainstorm together. The founder called them ‘T-shaped’ people. People who were very good at one thing (the vertical line on the T) but who were interested in thinking about other things (the horizontal line of the T).
What are your tips for bridging imagination with creativity that may help implementing what we imagine? Also, how can we overcome ‘hurdles’ we may face within the organisation from a cultural point of view etc.? How can we buy colleagues into an idea?
I agree Rose it is important to go for working with allies first before trying to convince the sceptics — very Zen approach as well.
Beautiful last words, Brian! Let’s create spaces where people can be courageous.
Resources and references
On languishing, by the Guardian
On languishing, by the New York Times
SNF CoLab: Imagine a Better World
Futurescape: A journey through London over the next 100 years
This is a really interesting initiative on moral imagination
More on think tanks and change
From think tank to change hub
Keynote by Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America
How do think tanks react to or foster change?
Read the OTT Annual Review 2020–2021
