3 words that will totally change the way you work

I. Don’t. Know.

These are three of the scariest—or most exciting—words in the English language, depending on your circumstances.

Many economic forecasts leave the perception that 2024 is off to a rickety start. For example, the Brookings Institute cites rising geopolitical tensions, an economic slowdown in China, weak growth in many markets, and restricting trade policies. On the individual level, 2023 research from Kantar and the America at Home Study revealed that Americans prioritize their mental health and emotional well-being (at 85% and 89% respectively). We must embrace “I don’t know” when faced with unprecedented ambiguity. 

At the precipice of uncertainty, you have two choices: You can run away in fear or you can lean into the ambiguity. And the best way to lean into that uncertainty is to tap into a critical asset that is innate to you: your imagination.

Centuries ago, in the 1780s, the English poet William Blake wrote, “What is now approv’d was once only imagined” in his poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” Think about that. As much focus and value that our society puts on what’s rational, still, the most logical and innovative products, experiences, and events all began as a query, a dream, and a function of the imagination.

So, what exactly is the imagination?

I define imagination as “your brain’s ability to synchronize memory, consciousness, sensemaking, and dreaming.” Your imagination also plays a critical role in your cognition and problem-solving abilities.

Fundamentally, the imagination is your gateway to discovery. Albert Einstein famously said, “The imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Now that’s a strong endorsement of the imagination from an objectively rational scientist. Similarly, astronomer Carl Sagan said, “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it, we go nowhere.”

The imagination is creativity’s fuel. And according to the World Economic Forum, creativity will be the number-two in-demand skill by 2027. Fortunately, 2023 research by Thrive My Way found that 60% of CEOs polled believe that creativity in the workplace is an important leadership quality. Seven out of 10 people in the same research study felt that creativity was crucial in the growth of the economy.

However, a whopping 75% of people who Thrive My Way polled believe that they are not living up to their potential creatively. And 46% of workers said they are only given a few times a year to be creative. So we’ve got a bit of a gap analysis here. People realize that creativity is very important, yet we are not devoting space or time to building our creative capacity.

The solution is to do what Jane McGonigal, author of the incredible book Imaginable, advocates: We must unstick our minds. Here are four easy methods I use to unstick my own mind.  

1. Play: My form of play is dancing. Sometimes I take a five-minute dance break in the middle of working. Otherwise, I get in my dance-play at the hip-hop dance classes I take twice a week.
2. Daydream: While others may advocate meditation and focusing your brain, I zag away and lean into daydreaming. I try to take one five-minute daydream break daily. It typically involves standing up near a window, setting my phone timer to five minutes, and allowing myself to relax into a dreamy state by gazing at a tree branch, following a cloud, or just totally zoning out. I come back to my desk refreshed.
3. Travel: When I am in a foreign place—a new neighborhood, another city, or a different country—all my senses come alive and my curiosity is piqued. I get to dig into the role of being an anthropologist. My assumptions about what’s normal are challenged and I learn a ton about myself in the process. 
4. Read fiction: A 2016 study by Yale researchers showed that reading fiction up to three and a half hours per week could increase longevity by two years. That’s cool. And I also experience that reading fiction daily—sometimes just 15 minutes—relaxes me and permits me to enter another person’s world. Reading fiction builds curiosity and empathy, two pathways to broadening your imagination. 

Unsticking your mind to build your creative capacity is essential in our current times. We are at the threshold of the Imagination Era. The Information Age is so 2010. Information and data have become commodities given how easily accessible they are. Curiosity, creativity, and imagination are your currency.

I’m not the first to signal the Imagination Era. Back in 1993, Charlie Magee published an essay for a CIA symposium declaring that the human imagination will control the information tools of the industrial age. More recently, Rita J. King, EVP of Science House, revisited the term Imagination Age as the bridge between what she calls the Industrial Era and the Intelligence Era. She cleverly redefines AI as “applied imagination.” 

Your imagination has a business ROI. For as long as you lean into your imagination to spark curiosity, thrive on teamwork, and lead with the heart, then your work initiatives, coupled with the technology we can leverage, will result in higher efficiencies, new strategic partnerships, and greater market value.  

The Imagination Era loves I don’t know. And you should too. Those three words are the key to curiosity, the bridge to innovation, and the catalyst for exploration.