“Utopia is on the horizon. I walk two steps, it moves two steps away. I walk ten steps and the horizon shifts ten steps further. No matter how much I walk, I’ll never reach it. So what’s the point of utopia? The point is this: it’s good for walking.” (Eduardo Galeano).
Our vision of the future, that horizon, gives us direction – where are we heading? – both at an individual and an organisational level.
A clear, shared vision, on the one hand, brings teams and people or partner organisations together around a common horizon; and on the other, offers a guide for your actions and strategies (especially in times of crisis or uncertainty). Let’s call it a compass.
We could say that vision is one of the first artefacts in a design process: the shared future narrative that moves a group, an organisation, a community.
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Inspiring cases where vision allows you to move forward against all odds
When we talk about vision – a long-term horizon – as a clear direction, as that compass that guides us through a volatile context, I can’t help but think of Óscar and Lulú. As social entrepreneurs, they have built successful projects that, as they say, start slowly but, once they reach cruising speed, become unstoppable. This sustained positive impact is due to the fact that they don’t build these projects alone, but with expert people and organisations – “seniors”, as they call them – who give them resilience. These are collective projects. And to coordinate the efforts and perspectives of all these people, it is vital to have a vision that everyone can participate in.
But there’s more: over time, Óscar and Lulú have created several different projects or brands at different moments in their trajectory: The Social MBA, PAS Coliving, Hola Ghana… Each of these brands has been a response to very specific needs emerging in the context at that particular moment. Having a clear, deeply worked and reflected vision as entrepreneurs has allowed them to seize those opportunities to build solid projects with real impact – not in an opportunistic or superficial way – that adapt to each of these situations, while building an identity, a brand, a know-how… that is common to all of them. In each of them, you will recognise the imprint of Lulú and Óscar.
If you want to learn more about Lulú and Óscar’s experience, I recommend listening to the podcast episode we recorded with them.
The other case I want to share with you today, which we’re personally working on… is the Sustainability Cluster of the Valencian Community – SECMACV. As a collective entity that brings together a large number of companies and territorial agents, SECMACV has a very ambitious vision: to make the business fabric of the Valencian Region both competitive and sustainable. As director of the Communication and Marketing Committee of the cluster, I’m in charge of establishing that cultural framework that guides everything we do as an organisation.
Vision within the Creative Regeneration methodology
At Monnou, we usually work on vision (based on values and mission) with this tool from the methodology that we once called “Purpose”. We could say that “vision” is the pinnacle of that “purpose”.
A very important aspect of using this tool is feedback. We talked about the importance of the vision being shared by all the people and organisations that need to be involved to move in this direction. And how do we do that? The answer is by involving them in the process: asking questions, having conversations, even building that vision together, bringing in everyone’s perspective. Otherwise, it is likely that these people and organisations will not feel represented by that horizon and may even feel it is being imposed on them.
Sometimes, that vision comes from within, in the sense that it is the person or organisation itself, based on its values, who defines it. But there is also, logically, an external dimension to all of this. We could talk about PESTEL analysis (political, economic forces…) and Futures Design. But I’ll leave that, well, for the future.
⚪ And you, what horizons are you walking towards?
Pedro Sáez Martínez
A new world is continuously taking shape, placing inspiring horizons before us, alongside complex challenges. In this space in-between what is and what could be, Creative Regeneration is a community of practice and research that seeks to bring what is yet to come to life.
If at any point you use tools from the methodology we are developing in Creative Commons, in any project at all, I would be deeply grateful if you let me know! We have been refining this methodology through the contributions of many people and a wide range of experiences. Moreover, this work is a core part of my academic research, so your input will be extremely valuable in helping us generate new knowledge more effectively.