The Imagination Challenge
Alexander Manu of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity, gave a talk titled, The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight and Innovation in the Global Economy at the UofT Rotman School of Management this evening. The talk was informative, thought provoking and entertaining.
Manu was pushing his latest book, The Imagination Challenge. As suggested by the synopsis above, the talk focused on the importance of imagination and the behaviours necessary to realize new capabilities -- which his book delves into, complete with a toolkit to get you started on freeing your imagination. To achieve new capabilities, Manu suggests that we must first recognize the existence of possibilities. The possibilities are right there in our faces, yet we don't see them. Our curiosity is needed to bridge the imagination gap that exists between the current capabilities and possibilities -- yet most of us either lack the curiosity or it isn't encouraged in our work environment. Imagination is a challenge for businesses, as they have organized the death of imagination. The imagination gap can be overcome by unlearning what we've been told people want and fostering an environment where temporary play is encouraged. Manu sees the behaviours associated with play as being the fulcrum necessary to boost our imaginations and foster creativity.
Manu spends a lot of time playing during his talk, which made it engaging and entertaining. He recalled his sister rushing in to announce that Yuri Gagarin made it into space when he was a child -- his grandmother's remark was, "Will this help the Jews?" (Manu is Jewish.) He used this as an example of how we've learned to close ourselves to curiosity, further observing that the people who admonish us to not play with our food are the ones who also taught us to fly food into our mouth when we were children. As we grow up, schools and work teach us that play is dichotomy of adulthood. So much so, that we have sub-contracted our play to the likes of Tiger Woods. Play, Manu implored, is much needed -- especially in the context of businesses, where creativity should be valued. To achieve what he calls strategic foresight, Manu proposes that possibility, behaviour and capability must all align.
When aligned, Manu claims you will have an ecology of imagination and be able to invent the future. He used many examples in his talk to suggest what is possible with strategic foresight. Barbie dolls for instance. Manu has twenty-two of them. (Not sure I want to know why.) He claims that one is sold every 2-seconds around the world and expects that in the near future, Barbie dolls will outnumber humans on the planet. Mattel, the maker of Barbie, have some strategic foresight. They are now the number four producer of women's clothing in the world. Their clients of course are Barbie dolls. "What if ...?" With strategic foresight, you will be able to ask many "what if" questions, and not feel silly. "What if your toilet could speak to you? What would it say?" What about your mirror? Your toothbrush? You would be amazed at the possibilities.
Related:
Synopsis: Companies constantly present technological developments -- new materials, new mechanisms, and new ways to enhance existing products and services. Yet these seldom lead to truly new ideas. Why? Humans are all born with imaginative instincts, but in the interest of efficient and predictable productivity, institutions such as schools and businesses routinely hinder those impulses. The most innovative products and services, author Alexander Manu argues, arise out of behaviours of play -- the ability to imagine, without limits, the question "What if ...?"
Manu was pushing his latest book, The Imagination Challenge. As suggested by the synopsis above, the talk focused on the importance of imagination and the behaviours necessary to realize new capabilities -- which his book delves into, complete with a toolkit to get you started on freeing your imagination. To achieve new capabilities, Manu suggests that we must first recognize the existence of possibilities. The possibilities are right there in our faces, yet we don't see them. Our curiosity is needed to bridge the imagination gap that exists between the current capabilities and possibilities -- yet most of us either lack the curiosity or it isn't encouraged in our work environment. Imagination is a challenge for businesses, as they have organized the death of imagination. The imagination gap can be overcome by unlearning what we've been told people want and fostering an environment where temporary play is encouraged. Manu sees the behaviours associated with play as being the fulcrum necessary to boost our imaginations and foster creativity.
Manu spends a lot of time playing during his talk, which made it engaging and entertaining. He recalled his sister rushing in to announce that Yuri Gagarin made it into space when he was a child -- his grandmother's remark was, "Will this help the Jews?" (Manu is Jewish.) He used this as an example of how we've learned to close ourselves to curiosity, further observing that the people who admonish us to not play with our food are the ones who also taught us to fly food into our mouth when we were children. As we grow up, schools and work teach us that play is dichotomy of adulthood. So much so, that we have sub-contracted our play to the likes of Tiger Woods. Play, Manu implored, is much needed -- especially in the context of businesses, where creativity should be valued. To achieve what he calls strategic foresight, Manu proposes that possibility, behaviour and capability must all align.
When aligned, Manu claims you will have an ecology of imagination and be able to invent the future. He used many examples in his talk to suggest what is possible with strategic foresight. Barbie dolls for instance. Manu has twenty-two of them. (Not sure I want to know why.) He claims that one is sold every 2-seconds around the world and expects that in the near future, Barbie dolls will outnumber humans on the planet. Mattel, the maker of Barbie, have some strategic foresight. They are now the number four producer of women's clothing in the world. Their clients of course are Barbie dolls. "What if ...?" With strategic foresight, you will be able to ask many "what if" questions, and not feel silly. "What if your toilet could speak to you? What would it say?" What about your mirror? Your toothbrush? You would be amazed at the possibilities.
Related:
- Points of Departure for Strategic Creativity and Innovation [PDF] -- Alexander Manu (Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity)
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