Bridging the Void: The Lonely Road of Creative Vision

In this world, the role of creator is the most desolate, lonely place from which a person can launch their BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

In Les McKeown’s book, “The Synergist,” he points out the five reasons why visionaries fail. He states that:

“Even visionaries who have highly balanced, talented, and complementary teams may fail to execute their vision for the following reasons:

1. Not enough funding

2. Misaligned strategy

3. Lack of Confidence

4. Lack of Empowerment

5. Selected Team Starts Hiding the Truth.”

My experience has told me that all of these things are true. But at the very root of creative disappointment and failure is the fact that no one, other than the creators themselves, will have the passion, drive and commitment to see a vision through to fruition.

It took me many years to figure this out.

Initially, I believed in a shared vision. I thought that if I could convey my ideas, set expectations and provide context, other people would get on board with what I was trying to achieve.

What I didn’t realize was that people were only going to go as far as their skillsets took them. They didn’t own the whole vision, just their contribution to it.

Only the visionary truly owns the whole thing — the entire creative process.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, as I hoped that everyone else would be as excited and engaged as me in the entire vision, as we began to make it a reality. I knew I couldn’t do it alone, but I also discovered that I could never relinquish my role as trailblazer, guide and cheerleader.

In my TedTalk on “The Power of Storytelling,” I said:

“Writing a story is at once the most empowering, creative experience, and the darkness emptiness you will ever feel… To me, it’s like writing in the Void. The void was the silent place where thoughts gathered — both bright and beautiful or dark and sinister. It was the place where the words formed and linked together forming wonderful, inspired sentences or worthless chunks of wasted babble.”

And every creator, every visionary will inevitably have to come to the same conclusion — there will be many people to help you along the way, but eventually, for a vision to become real, the creator must be the torch bearer, leading the way, and bridging the void for others to follow.