Dream

9/1/2018

‘I have a dream.’ (Martin Luther King)

We were leading a strategy development process at an international NGO and wanted to envision ourselves and each other rather than to paint bleak pictures of burning platforms, a future to avoid or a present to escape. This was instead about inspiring wonder, hope and aspiration. ‘Imagine if…’ We invited people to paint, depict and enact future scenarios – the futures that our beneficiaries, supporters and we ourselves dreamed of. It was about imagining, hoping, reaching, aiming high.

There are parallels with the ‘dream phase’ of Appreciative Inquiry. This is where we invite people to imagine a different, brighter future: what they would like things (e.g. relationships, ways of working, success stories) to be more like, more of the time. There are also parallels with posing a ‘miracle question’ in solutions-focused coaching or therapy. This is where we invite a person to imagine vividly that a desired future state has already been reached or achieved. To experience it as if it really is.

This is important and here are some reasons why. If we focus our attention only on problems, deficits or undesirable states, it can evoke anxiety, drain energy and close-down creative thinking. I say ‘only’ because there are some situations (e.g. aspects of accountancy/IT/audit) where identifying problems/errors and fixing them can be very important. Some people also get a buzz, a real sense of achievement, from searching for, sniffing out or hunting down problems and sorting them out.

If, however, we focus entirely on problems, red-ratings or what is missing or broken, psychologically and culturally-speaking there is a risk that they grow out of proportion, that we become unhelpfully fixated on them and that we lose a broader perspective – thereby undermining vision, awareness and morale. If, conversely, we invite people to dream and tap into the power of positive imagination, it can inspire fresh hope, open new horizons, release creative energy and surface great ideas.

So – when was the last time you spent time dreaming..?

58 Comments

Peter Young

10/1/2018 08:17:34 am

So true. Thank you Nick. As it's been said, "where attention goes, energy flows." As leaders and consultants we need to be paying constant attention to what we are giving our energy to.

Nick Wright

10/1/2018 09:49:30 am

Thank you, Peter. I like that. I haven't heard that expression before. It reminded me of a paragliding lesson I had some years ago. The instructor instructed that we should focus our attention on where we want to go, not on where we don't. If we were to focus on e.g. the tree or the barbed wire fence that we are concerned to avoid, we will almost certainly hit them! It's as if we naturally move towards whoever or whatever we focus our attention on.

Richard Simpson

11/1/2018 09:55:24 am

Another thought-provoking piece, Nick. Thank you. I work in the UK's National Health Service and the culture, stimulated consciously or unconsciously by anxiety-riddled governments (the downside of a highly politicised health system), is one of risk management. As you say, it's important to manage risk, but too often we lose sight of the vision and of the good or great work which takes place and which is taken for granted. It manifests itself in the regulatory regime. There are no cigars for being excellent but plenty of rotten tomatoes for getting it wrong. That drives some pretty unpleasant behaviours and creates cultural paranoia.

11/1/2018 02:14:09 pm

Thanks Richard. I saw a post on Facebook this morning that summed up some aspects of what you describe beautifully: 'The NHS is not failing. It is succeeding in doing amazing things despite under-funding. It is, however, being failed.' and another that said, simply, 'Tired doctors make mistakks.' :(

Suzanna Smith FCIPD

11/1/2018 11:08:00 am

Inspiring article Nick ... dream-food for some serious action! Thank you!

11/1/2018 11:08:59 am

Thanks for your encouraging and inspiring feedback, Suzanna! :)

Ruby Manalac

11/1/2018 11:19:06 am

Wonderful insight Nick.

11/1/2018 11:19:31 am

Thanks for your kind feedback, Ruby.

David Bruhl

11/1/2018 11:28:28 am

Well articulated, thanks for sharing it Nick.

11/1/2018 11:29:23 am

Thanks David - much appreciated. :)

Bob Larcher

11/1/2018 01:58:42 pm

Reminds me of Covey's famous, "Begin with the end in mind".

11/1/2018 02:00:23 pm

Hi Bob. Yes, that resonates with Kotter's idea that, if a vision is sufficiently 'convincing to the mind and compelling to the heart', we will naturally be and feel drawn towards it.

William Chadwick

11/1/2018 03:35:42 pm

Great post Nick - as a variant on your theme around audits (which can be creative and great fun in a training course), I ask some of my cohorts to step back from the actual framework governing a particular law AND dream dreams! In other words to construct a user friendly compliance framework starting from scratch which is based on both their hopes AND the education of their actual experience in a given field. Reconciling these can often produce a tangible outcome .
AND.....
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

11/1/2018 03:39:35 pm

Thanks William. I really like your 'AND' approach to audit training and I love your quotation from Alice in Wonderland! :) On the creative and fun aspects of the training, you may find this short related piece resonates? http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/worst-possible-idea

Murray Guy

11/1/2018 03:46:42 pm

I think so, I am dreaming of a #NetZero building industry that would reduce green house gas emissions by 35%.

11/1/2018 03:48:15 pm

Hi Murray. The prospect of making such significant reductions in green house gas emissions sounds like a great dream to pursue.

Andy Beech

11/1/2018 05:02:27 pm

It's another instance, I think, of the importance of maintaining a balance between logic and creativity.

11/1/2018 05:03:16 pm

Hi Andy. That reminded me of Rush's album, 'Hemispheres'. Are you familiar with it..? :)

Bruce Watkins

12/1/2018 08:06:00 am

Great article Nick, thanks for sharing.

12/1/2018 03:54:48 pm

Thanks for such affirming feedback, Bruce. You're welcome.

Cassie Sim

12/1/2018 08:07:20 am

Very inspiring and uplifting to our spirit!

12/1/2018 03:55:37 pm

Thank you, Cassie. What a lovely way of expressing it! :)

Tara Parker

12/1/2018 08:11:50 am

I suppose I dream a little every day, as a way to use my imagination...a skill we often trade in for reality. 😉

12/1/2018 03:58:11 pm

Hi Tara. Yes, how quickly we default to what we perceive as the 'reality' of a situation before allowing creative and radical alternatives to emerge..!

Cath Norris

12/1/2018 09:36:17 am

Hi Nick, the dream is implied in the nature of the predicament ie I'm tired of being a particular way implies the dream of being another way. We can stand the problem on its head and frame and offer the implied dream, however, I believe that what matters, is our clients readiness to pick up on and explore the dream. If we're not careful we can end up trying to drive the process rather than trusting in the process of meeting our clients exactly where they are. Oftentimes we need to fully appreciate the nature of our predicament and acknowledge the death of past dreams before we are ready to dream anew. Pushing past that need prematurely can ride roughshod over understandable feelings and beliefs which are needing to be processed. It can also be shaming by signalling that we ought to be ready to move on. I struggle with positive psychology for these reasons.

12/1/2018 03:51:58 pm

Hi Cath. I really like the way you expressed that: 'The dream is implied in the nature of the predicament.' I have certainly fallen into the risk that you have highlighted here. I once presented back the results of a staff survey in an organisation and commented that the lower scores didn't necessarily represent a lack of engagement but rather, perhaps, an implied positive dream of something better. I was severely berated by a number of people afterwards because they said it felt like spin and that I hadn't adequately represented their actual feelings.

I learned through that experience that 'glass half full' vs 'glass half empty' isn't simply a matter of perspective. It is also a matter of sentiment and emotional experience. I think there's a risk in positive psychology that we can minimise difficult and painful emotional experiences (e.g. 'death of past dreams') or try to push people to the up-side of a Kubler-Ross type change curve prematurely, before they are ready or able to move in that direction.

ABDOULAYE TOURE

15/1/2018 11:33:05 am

Just very nice! Thanks a lot.

15/1/2018 11:33:46 am

Thanks Abdoulaye. You're welcome!

Shereen Elmee

15/1/2018 11:35:09 am

Great stuff!

15/1/2018 11:35:32 am

Thanks Shereen!

Chandara HEM

15/1/2018 11:36:29 am

Interesting!

15/1/2018 11:36:54 am

Thanks Chandara. :)

Funmi Johnson

15/1/2018 11:38:26 am

Thanks for another informative piece Nick. I’ve recently been encouraging clients to use visualisation more. To see their dream/goal in their mind’s eye. To actually experience it with all 5 senses. I’d shied away from this approach in the past, but have come to the place where I can see how useful it is to help people get going.

15/1/2018 11:39:51 am

Thanks Funmi. Great to hear from you again after such a long time! I like the sound of the approach you are using. It sounds similar to Gestalt - are you familiar with it?

Dr Louise Metcalf (MAPS, COP)

16/1/2018 10:23:30 am

I'm a huge fan of David Cooperrider's work, it's extremely beneficial to organisational change processes. Thank you for posting this.

16/1/2018 10:27:30 am

Thanks Louise. Yes, I like his ground-breaking work on appreciative inquiry. You may find these related short pieces interesting?

http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/appreciate
http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/appreciative-inquiry
http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/an-appreciated-inquiry
http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/appreciative-coaching

Francis Mswela

16/1/2018 05:51:30 pm

It's a great approach to organisational strategy and capacity building.

16/1/2018 05:52:14 pm

Hi Francis. That is certainly true in my experience.

Lovely Kumar

17/1/2018 08:51:56 am

Hi, a miracle question in solution focused coaching is truly powerful but also we need the ability to toggle between a desired outcome (as uncovered) and the action steps to achieve it.

17/1/2018 08:53:30 am

Hi Lovely. I agree, although a 'miracle question' often creates its own dynamic shift.

Rebecca Ryan

18/1/2018 10:14:28 am

Interesting frame on this 👌

18/1/2018 10:14:51 am

Thanks Rebecca. :)

Marcella Bremer

18/1/2018 11:52:19 am

Thanks for sharing, Nick. The dream OD approach and the miracle question align with positive psychology and positive leadership. Instead of a focus on problems, you focus on what works well and try to amplify that. It's the basis of a positive culture and positive outcomes... I love AI as well. Very empowering :-)

18/1/2018 11:53:06 am

Thanks Marcella. I agree...and me too! :)

Esther Sakala Kalichi

19/1/2018 07:19:46 pm

Like.

19/1/2018 07:20:59 pm

Thanks Esther.

Alun Charles Jones

20/1/2018 02:39:37 pm

In my experience, the patient often engages with dream content and becomes open to possible messages to the self. Theory is helpful but not all!

20/1/2018 02:42:15 pm

Hi Alun. Do you have any examples you could share from experience? You may find this short related piece interesting? http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/sweet-dreams-are-made-ofwhat

Caroline Munro

21/1/2018 04:48:49 pm

A good reminder, I do do this. That said too often I can find my self caught up in the problems.

21/1/2018 04:51:19 pm

Thanks Caroline. I like the honesty in your response! Me too. I find that a dream/solutions-focus is often a choice in the moment. You may find this related short piece interesting? http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/solutions

Nick Skinner

26/1/2018 10:52:23 am

Nice post Nick. My reflection is that I am hugely invested in the power of dreams and time travel. I have a 6ft collapsible Tardis in the back of my car that takes teams into the future to report back on what they see. It's a great way to bypass blocks and is generally powerful stuff. Dream big. And of course this is a massive theme in the Health and Safety industry at the moment, moving the emphasis away from clipboards and hard hats towards appreciative inquiry.

26/1/2018 10:54:30 am

Thanks Nick. I love the Tardis idea!! Very creative. :) I'm curious - can you say a bit more about the Health & Safety dimension..?

Nick Piperis

26/1/2018 11:12:41 am

Hi Nick, you’ve articulated how positive reinforcement is used to create motivational training. This can and will benefit any organization. While people bring their own issues to their work, this is a great reminder of how we should present ourselves and how we should live our trainings, coaching and everyday approach to work. Thank you.

26/1/2018 11:14:16 am

Thanks Nick. On positive reinforcement, you may find this related short piece interesting? http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/positive

Shauna McColl

28/1/2018 12:45:37 am

I love this, Nick. I’m all about m delegates GETTING that they, themselves, are in control of their own success. I train people to take control of their motivational and attitudinal states - one of the simplest parts to this training is visualisation- seeing, hearing and feeling what it’ll be like when they’re exceeding targets - what are people saying and doing around you; what are you doing with your family and friends; where is this success allowing you to travel to. How do you feel? It's important to have purpose in everything we do so, dream big, I say!

28/1/2018 12:47:51 am

Thanks Shauna. That sounds like a great solutions-focused approach to me, especially drawing on the incredible power of the imagination.

Divesh Sharma

1/2/2018 10:16:43 am

I totally agree Nick . Training is all about realisation of potential and positive outcome with road map to achieve the same. Not about fixing problems. In short - keep focus on future based on learning from past.

1/2/2018 10:19:26 am

Thanks Divesh. There are some interesting debates in organisation development at the moment about whether 'learning from the past' is possible or useful in some situations, especially when the future that may unfold is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. What do you think?

Dream

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