Holding onto vision in a crisis

Vision mobilises action, brings people together, and brings a once impossible future into the possibility of being.

However right now we’re seeing unprecedented change, adaptation, and innovation take place in response to a global crisis.
Leaders are able to swiftly implement ideas and business models that were previously caught up in political and bureaucratical preoccupations.

Which begs the question…what’s the place and point of vision?

How is it different and why does it matter?
What happens if we lose our sense of vision?

Both can bring energy and excitement, but perhaps we could say one mobilises action in service of the present, and preservation, and the other in service of the future, and transformation.

My belief is that we need both ‘doing’ and ‘dreaming’ energies if we are to co-create a world built on firmer, kinder, more inclusive principles.
Maybe there’s a clue in there…perhaps vision grows from a foundation of deeply held principles, values, and beliefs.

Distinctions

Crisis
Focussed on ‘what is’; direct and directing; urgent; immediate; unwavering; unquestioning.

Vision
Focussed on ‘what could be’; expansive; compelling; future-focussed; inviting of others.

Working with both

It’s hard to envision a future when we’re dealing with a crisis in the present.

It’s like talking on the phone whilst trying to hear what’s being shouted at you from another room. Or focussing a camera lens on a near-sighted objected whilst trying to bring a distant object into view.

We’re all ‘making moves’ right now one way or another. Choosing how we act and what we do to respond to the moment at hand.

Your move might be to prioritise your livelihood, or that of others. Or it might be about work, rest, or coping. There’s a degree to which we don’t have much choice; our circumstances will require certain things of us right now. Maybe that’s what a crisis is, a moment that is happening whether you’re at cause or in control. All bets are off. Barriers are removed, along with aspects of our agency.
However when it comes to vision – there we find freedom.
Freedom to imagine, re-construct, and re-create. 

As I navigate my own reality and life I’m paying attention to the energy of my actions and choices. Which are driven by the needs of a crisis, and which are fuelled by the future calling. And where perhaps I might have my wires crossed.

This is my argument for the virtue of vision.

If there is a crack in the crisis, an opportunity to look beyond, then consider what life and world you want to be part of. Consider what organisation, team, or family you would be proud to have a hand in co-creating.

Consider what moves you could be making now, what foundations you could put into place that would support that possibility to find firm footing in the present.

But whatever you do, don’t build a future from the energy of a crisis.
Don’t make plans based on fear.

Wait until an oasis in your ‘crisis energy’ appears, and dream from that space instead.