I love a good day dream…

You know those corny poster quotes, the ones with images of mountains or schools of fish. The ones that say impactful but simplistic things. One that sticks in my mind regularly, and I am confident I will mess up the exact phrase, but it goes to the idea that without plans a dream is just a dream. The idea being that successful corporate teams have aligned, managed and attainable goals that lead to making a dream a reality.

But the reality is, nothing is straight forward. So what if, it is okay or even ideal for teams to dream?

Innovation comes from ideation. Ideation comes from thinking of the barely possible as possible. So how is that not dreaming?

Certain aspects of nature always put me at ease. They refill my bucket and refuel my ability to dream. Today it was the gorgeous fall sky above. The non-humid 72 degree air with a slight breeze and a larger than life sunshine was the right refill and refuel I needed for a walk.

At that moment, I started to dream.

I visualize fun vacation spots, bigger ideas (like morphing to a portfolio company with a brick & mortar franchise) or just a cool new car (maybe a custom old bronco in a pastel with a removable top)….

What it does though, the 20 minutes of fresh air and dreaming time had me race back to my desk.

I had quick clarity on how to word a proposal, I knew how I wanted to write up a candidate profile for a client, I saw how to get all my tasks in the day done and in what order. Dream unleashed space in my mind by allowing everything else to fall away.

So, next time you or your team is feeling the blockage, nothing is clicking, go dream… I really think those corporate posters need a makeover to encourage some fluidity and not just tasks to goals. We would be amazed what can get done with the insertion of ambiguous thoughts.