When is the last time you took time away from your to-do list and invested in answering the question “What if?” Sometimes we get so immersed in getting things done today that we fall short of developing a way to get the really important things done in the future. That’s what scenario planning is all about. Asking the question “what if?” as it relates to every aspect of your organization and enterprise. Unfortunately, it takes time away from activities which seem to be far more urgent than dreaming about the future. But that’s what we must do. We must consider our future to be more important than our present, even though the present feels like it should be taken care of first.
True transformational leaders have an understanding of the need to think ahead and create scenarios to which they will lead their organizations to pursue. But, it requires the time and discipline to stop and invest real time in its development in colorful detail. Leaders who inspire their people to think years ahead have crafted the description of what the future will look like, long before any of the preliminary work has been done to get there.
In the book The Cat and the Toaster, Douglas Hall states “Scenario planning essentially is disciplined daydreaming.” He suggests that great leaders make sure to spend part of their on-going work time thinking, planning, crafting, and even day-dreaming about what the future could be if they were courageous enough to go after it. Daydreaming needs to be a disciplined effort that is part of your regular routine. Daydreaming is a must-do activity. Daydreaming is what will help you discover the answer to the question “what if?”
Do some disciplined daydreaming today and lead well.