Vision prepares for serendipity

Even imperfect visions prepare you for the right stuff

Ah! Vision. The tough assignment of future thinking that is so hard to approach. A vision is an exercise of writing science fiction about the future (nod: Jeff Patton). Most of us have not done it enough to be fluent with the thinking challenge.

Vision is such an abstract thing when you start approaching it. You don’t have the right perspective. You don’t have the right thinking mode that you could just activate. The right thoughts just don’t seem to arrive at you.

But there is further trouble with the vision work: false starts with mission and strategy. We often stray to depict what we, as company, do and stand for. That’s mission. Vision is about the world out there, outside of our company - the vision lies with the customers. It is the good moments our customers will have - not about us as the company. The other false start is starting to think of strategy too early. Then you think of concrete focus, strict choices and the “how” of making this all happen. Keep these out your mind for the time being.

This writing is how and why any attempt at vision helps you in the future - even if you end up failing to describe the vision well and exactly right.

Having written this “exactly right” I notice my brain telling me. Antti: vision is not a single thing that is exactly right or wrong. Future is a set of scenarios that may or may not play out. Prediction is not fact.

Pattern matching

Our brains are just big pattern matching engines. Our brains work in patterns. I know I’m using the term pattern very loosely here.

We observe the world. Whatever we hear and see enters the brain. Then instantly we start noticing the meaning out of what we have perceived. That is pattern matching.

We also learn by creating patterns. Whenever something happens that does not exactly match what we think, then new patterns start emerging in our brain and memories accumulate. Repeated thinking strengthens the patterns used. The stronger patterns in your brain are easier to summon by matching.

The more you notice a pattern, the more active it is your memory. This is very sneaky. Brain is also very quick to apply the active patterns in any situation. I’m sure there is no clear algorithm on how our brain sorts through the stored patterns in the memory. What I know is that what is top of mind is matched more than the less used patterns.

Visions are rich with patterns

Good visions are vivid. They contain detail. The good visions contain curated sets of moments, behaviours, and pictures of the future that are desirable. Vision = patterns.

I’ve noticed all vision work is half training your brain. You search for things that could be great. Your brain absorbs. You discuss and apply what you think might be right in the future. Your brain absorbs. You put the pen to the paper, write and draw pictures of your mental model. Now your brain really makes those concepts sticky.

This all primes your brain to match the right stuff in the months and years to come.

Spotting the right stuff

Opportunities that match what we need occur every day. The future is already here - it is not just evenly distributed. The trouble is spotting what really is happening and relevant.

You do the work in looking forward with vision work.

What you have done is that you’ve trained your brain to act in the desired way. As the world and events occur, the brain is more likely to match and perceive what you visioned. You understand quicker and better what is happening. You find the pieces of the vision among the big puzzle of everything that is happening.

I know I’m making the lofty work of vision work as mundane matching. Apologies to those who think vision work should remain in the realm of magic. It really does not have to be so.

Better understanding is better thinking. Thinking is a muscle. You become better by applying your thinking to the right stuff.