One Apple A Day #789 - start with a vision
Yesterday, after a fantastic weekend spent in nature with some kids and their father, I was driving home.
Alone, some relaxing music on the radio, no rush and still the smiles and the joy of those kids in my mind. My journey home became an opportunity to process everything I experienced, the small details, the conversations.
I think I was midway when, while reflecting on some exchange we had at lunch, an idea came up in the form of a sentence.
We need a vision before than a reason.
It was probably influenced by something I heard in Simon Sinek's podcast the day before. In a conversation with General Stan McChrystal, Commander of The Joint Special Operations Command under President Obama, Simon Sinek talked about the speech with which Barak Obama, at that time President of United States, presented to the Congress his plans for national health care. In his speech, he made a rational argument for the plan. Absolutely reasonable but at the same time hard to fully grasp, plus it sounded costly. Simon suggests that instead, he should have reminded everyone of the principles defined by the founding fathers of the nation including the belief that all men are created equal, and the inalienable right to life and the pursuit of happiness. He argues that around those Obama could have united everyone, before moving into the how and what.
I feel we all do and experience this approach quite often. We try to convince others using reasoning. We provide all the reasons why what we have in mind is the right thing to do, and we struggle to understand why people are to following us.
The fact is that we all have different ways to explain things in our mind. We have different beliefs, most of which we aren't even aware of, that create a different perspective on things.
But if we can create a vision that appeals to their heart and soul, that can connect to something beyond the logic, then we have a lot more chances to inspire action.
So, a good reminder for the self is to start with the vision, not the reason.