Audacious and Outlandish Hope!

 A famous U.S. General said, "Hope is not a method."  He is right and even in my own company, I used to ban the word "hope" from being used in concurrence with business plans and objectives. But, let's not underestimate the power of hope for causing people to dream, imagine and innovate.  

If vision is "A description of those things not yet seen", then hope is the magnet that can get vision to come out of us.  

If we hope for better, then we will be drawn to come up with our own ways to make it better. The word hope got overused politically and maybe we shy away from it now because we don't want to get labeled, but let's not give up on hope.  

Audacious and outlandish hope may well be the breakthrough that you have been looking for (and hoping).

Vision Casters

Everyone likes vision casters.  These are the people who seem to be able to see around the corner and create a vision of what the rest of us can't yet see.  Investors especially love vision from CEO and Founders.  Those analysts who represent investors sometimes though have the least vision, so they are even more enamored with those who lean forward into the future.  This is the problem the Apple has right now.  The analysts think that Apple has lost their vision.  Have they though?  Analysts are asking questions like, "Is it search?", "Is it voice?"  But, what do we know?  One can't ask a question about what a vision is because a vision, again, is something that the rest of us can't yet see.  Prior to the launch of the iPod, Steve Jobs played the guessing game with me and asked me what I thought could change the world, would fit in my pocket, but wasn't a a phone or a camera.  At that time, the last thing I was going to come up with was another mp3 player.  But, he had a vision and that is why other others followed.  If we aren't constantly trying to create a vision for our employees, our customers, our consumers and our shareholders, then we run the risk of losing their attention and worse yet the curiosity of their imagination.

(if you would like to read a further faith-based application of this post, you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/ )