Envisioning the Future Rewires Our Brain

This is an excerpt from chapter 1 of my book THE NATURAL STRATEGIST: Cultivating a Mindset of Care and Connection.

Visionaries are astute to look beyond the horizon. They can see what the future might look like in great detail, as if it were projected on a wall in the distance. They may not be able to describe it perfectly, or the details of how to get there may be unclear, but their vision pulls them forward. Envisioning the future rewires our brains for success (Lichtenberg 2019).

When we create a mental image of the future, new neurons grow in our brain and new connections form between neurons, the same process that allows us to learn and remember. The image of our desired future is thus formed in our brain, and we can draw on it for inspiration and perseverance. Often, this vision is more than enough to get a team started on its way. With their energy and excitement about what a potential future might hold, visionaries keep their teams motivated and up their game throughout the journey.

In the beginning, an idea may be all you need. Entrepreneurs, innovators in small and large companies alike, are all passionate and convinced about their idea and vision. They see things not everyone may be able to see or intuitively grasp at first. In the beginning, act as if you are right. Design as if you are right. Don’t constrain yourself; design and develop the most innovative product or service you can come up with. Develop the most innovative value proposition and business model you can imagine.

At the beginning of a new venture, don’t question the value of your business idea or the reality of your value proposition and business model. Push to the edge of innovation as if you are right.

But when you are done designing, you ask yourself a simple and pragmatic yet profound question: What are all the things that would have to be true for your idea to succeed?

By asking this question, you are asking “the most valuable question in strategy” (Martin 2022). It encourages you to sharpen your analysis by examining logic and data separately. And it helps to sharpen your focus on what it will take to create the future in which all these things become true, and what we need to do to make it happen

If you enjoyed reading this short excerpt, you can get my book at your favorite bookstore.