A Vivid Vision is a document, roughly three pages in length, describing what a company’s highest-ranking executive envisions for that company in vivid detail. It describes what the future holds for the company but not how it’ll get there.
Your Vivid Vision should have people saying “There’s no way.” You should have goals so big that they make you imagine technology that doesn’t even exist today. By letting your imagination free on your Vivid Vision it might seem impossible to see it become a reality, but it’s not.
Grounding your Vivid Vision means doing the following things.
Make a Three-Year Vision
Make your Vivid Vision wild, but don’t make its timeline that way. The perfect timing can help your massive goals become a reality—that perfect timing being three years. But why three years?
“The reality is that if you venture too far into the future, the vision becomes very foggy. The further out you go, the more chaos is thrown into the mix, and it becomes very difficult to see your company with any degree of clarity.” – Cameron Herold
Rather, if your timeline is too short—only one or two years—you don’t have time to have a big enough goal that will inspire you. Three years allows those big goals while also giving a tight enough time frame that it inspires innovation.
Share Your Vivid Vision
It is very important that you share your Vivid Vision with your employees. When your employees know exactly what is envisioned for the company in the next three years, especially all the minor details, they know that their work will have an impact.
“Employees naturally want to perform well and feel good about the work they contribute. They want their company to be a success.” – Cameron Herold
Without showing your employees your Vivid Vision you’re holding them back! Motivated and innovative employees are the people that are going to help make your Vivid Vision a reality.
Mind Mapping
When you’re beginning to write your Vivid Vision you have to let your creative side run free. Do this through a technique called ‘mind mapping.’ Write down whatever ideas pop into your head and let each idea inspire another. What you write might look seemingly random, but don’t worry about that.
“After a while, I am left with a sheet of paper covered in haphazard, seemingly unconnected notes. But when I dig a little deeper, patterns begin to emerge. They are ideas or directions I might not have been actively thinking of, but my creative subconscious certainly was.” – Cameron Herold
Don’t let yourself ask ‘how’ as you write your goals and ideas. That question will keep you from having the truly inspired ideas that will help your company thrive no matter how impossible they seem at the moment. By ‘mind-mapping’, your subconscious will find the connections and help you build a road to actually get there. The ‘how’ happens organically.
Breaking it Down
Three years is a long time and your Vivid Vision is big. It can seem daunting at times, that’s why you have to take it one step at a time.
“See your grand ambition not so much as a single entity but as dozens of smaller entities linked together to form something singular.” – Cameron Herold
The end goal might be hard to see realistically, but the smaller steps that form are the things that keep it grounded and achievable. By breaking your Vivid Vision down into small pieces you’ll be able to overcome each obstacle as it arises.
A Vivid Vision is filled with massive goals that might seem impossible at first glance, but that’s why there are ways to keep it grounded. That doesn’t mean it has to seem grounded. In fact, people should look at it and think it’s impossible—when in reality, it’s not. Not if you’re doing it right.
If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!
