Law #97 – Position Yourself To Be A Visionary
by Stanley Bronstein on July 15, 2008
Law #97
Position Yourself To Be A Visionary
Visionary people face the same problems everyone else faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to finding a solution. (Bill Hybels)
Some Definitions
Vision – The act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be. A vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation.
Visionary – A person of unusually keen foresight. A person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; dreamer.
People – Persons indefinitely or collectively; persons in general. Persons, whether men, women, or children, considered as numerable individuals forming a group.
Face – To look toward or in the direction of. To confront. To oppose. To be challenged by.
Same – Unchanged in character or condition. Identical to. Of little or no difference.
Problems – A situation, matter, or person that presents perplexity or difficulty. A question to be considered, solved, or answered.
Everyone Else – All others. All other people.
Rather – On the contrary. Instead of.
Paralyzed – To bring to a condition of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act. To impair the progress or functioning of; make inoperative or powerless.
Immediately – Without lapse of time; without delay; instantly; at once.
Commit – To pledge or engage oneself. To bind or obligate oneself to a position on an issue or question.
Find(ing) – To locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort. To discover or perceive after consideration. To become aware of, or discover.
Solution – An explanation or answer. The solving of a problem.
Source: Dictionary.com
Contrary To Some Opinions, Visionaries Are NOT Crazy
When I looked up the word “Visionary” in the dictionary, 4 of the first 9 definitions used words and phrases such as:
unreal; imaginary; fanciful; not presently workable; unpractical; unreal; purely idealistic; speculative; unrealizable; audacious; schemes
This bothered me quite a bit.
We are apparently living in a world that thinks you’re a little bit nuts if you dare to dream; if you dare to think outside the box.
We have to put a stop to that.
One of the biggest criticisms of today’s educational system is that it does NOT encourage children to think. Instead, it simply teaches them facts and bits of knowledge. In other words, it teaches them what to think, NOT HOW to think.
We can put a stop to that, IF WE CHANGE OUR PARADIGM, IF WE CHANGE OUR THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT OF BEING A VISIONARY.
Back To The Quote – What Is It Suggesting?
Visionaries and non-visionaries face the same problems. In other words, we’re all human beings and we all face similar problems.
The question is: what do we do about those problems?
Non-Visionaries – They say things like: Oh my, what am I going to do? I have absolutely no idea what to do about this problem, so I can’t do anything. The problems too big to solve, so I can’t do anything.
Visionaries – They say things like: Oh my, what am I going to do? I know something needs to be done, so I’m going to get started on it RIGHT NOW. I’m going to keep trying things and I’m going to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I’m going to find the answer to this problem and fix it.
In short, non-visionaries become paralyzed. Visionaries begin to analyze.
So What Are We To Do?
Our world is at a stage where some things either need to stop, or some things need to change.
In other words, we need a paradigm shift.
Paradigm Shift – A fundamental change in approach or assumptions.
The shift I am suggesting is that it is okay to dream.
It is okay to be use words and phrases such as:
- unreal; imaginary; fanciful; not presently workable; unpractical; unreal; purely idealistic; speculative; unrealizable; audacious; schemes
A Story About Engineers
Have you ever heard the story about how you can sit down in front of a room full of engineers and ask them to do an “impossible” task.
You will usually wind up getting 2 answers from the group:
- Half of the engineers will tell you why it is impossible and why it can’t be done; and
- The other half will simply go out and do it.
That is the power of dreaming. That is the power of having vision. That is the power of being a visionary.
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Until next time, take care.
Stanley F. BronsteinHave you checked out my website that profiles the benefits of walking? iWarriorWalk.com
July 15th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Stanley, good article. Printed it off to use in my regular Friday meetings with my team.
I think there are four other characteristics that all “visionaries” I’ve known possess:
1.) Uncanny ability to fly just above ground level AND at 20,000 feet and still see both perspectives. The difference between a mere “dreamer” and a “visionary” is that a visionary has a plan (and sometimes it’s pretty loose at the beginning) on how they can accomplish their “vision.” Surely someone other than Steve Jobs had an idea about creating easy-to-use home desktop PCs — but Jobs had a plan for how to do it. That requires “blue sky thinking” AND an ability to think tactically. People have big ideas all the time, but most people can’t pull their heads out of the clouds long enough to say, “How will I do this?”
2.) Ability to segment big ideas into smaller pieces that can be implemented quickly. This is related to the first characteristic – a dreamer thinks so much about the end product, that they become almost a slave to it. They are prone to constantly expanding that vision because they don’t ever have to deal with the constraints of reality. And because of this, they have problems actually taking action. A true visionary knows that you can’t steer a boat across the Atlantic by pointing the bow at New York City … you have to break the trip up in to a series of small navigational adjustments. Big ideas are no different, especially since your environment or market may change before you get to your destination. The only way to adapt to this is to allow yourself to implement your vision in small steps that can be tweaked as things change. You still need a destination, but that can’t be everything.
3.) Tenacity and perseverance … and passion. Getting people to buy on to a vision or big idea requires a lot of work. Most people are conditioned to resistant change and most people are by nature skeptical of things that seem big or different. Also, a really big vision can take years to actually achieve — and arguably, many extension of that vision will develop during that time — so it never really is done. To get people on board you have to have almost fanatic enthusiasm for your vision, and to keep it moving forward, you have to spend lots of time reinforcing it with people. You can’t give up easily, be too short-minded or fall prey to negativism. You have to make your vision so exciting and energizing that everyone will want to join in on it, because they just can’t resist.
4.) Talent for improvisation. Nothing stays the same — and the bigger your vision, the more likely it will be that something external to your vision and plan will change before you hit your objective. Visionaries recognize this up-front and they don’t pursue perfection for perfections sake, because perfection assumes some sort of consistency in the world. They view external changes as opportunities, not as barriers. They are comfortable deviating from their original plan if something changes.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Matt:
Excellent contribution on your part and excellent analysis.
Thanks for your kind words.
I touch on many of the subjects in other parts of the 100 Laws of Positioning, plus many of these are touched on in my 2 previous books.
Basically, I agree with EVERYTHING you said COMPLETELY.
Take care and stick around. More good stuff to come.
Stanley Bronstein
MrAchievement
July 18th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Thanks Stanley!
The power released by deciding to become a visionary is needed in our schools, in our businesses, and in our families.
Let’s challenge the paradigms and the thinking that holds us back, and change the world, one visionary at a time!
Mr. Twenty Twenty
The Professional Visionary
http://www.exhostage.com