Where has your imagination gone?

We need imagination in business. It’s a key part of creativity and I think we’ll all agree that the current challenges in business and the wider world certainly need that.

I’ve been reading Dust by Philip Pullman (was anyone else watching His Dark Materials on BBC 1?!) and whilst his books are typically found in the children’s section, they have a lot to offer adults.

Without spoilers, there’s part of the story where Lyra’s daemon (part of her soul in animal form - bear with me) challenges the dramatic change in behaviour - after reading a new book, she goes from emotionally savvy to coldly logical.

He says to the author of the book: ‘reading your novel persuaded Lyra that the things she believed were false and made her bitterly unhappy. It was as if you’d stolen her imagination and taken her hope along with it’.

So why am I telling you a children’s story?

Because I think it raises our awareness on a number of compelling points:

• we are shaped by what we read

• we often change our ideas and beliefs when we receive new information (for better or worse)

• dry, logical process on its own can kill imagination

• imagination is an attribute to be prized and is key to emotional well-being.

So if you’re feeling a dearth of creativity and you want to dial it back up, check who you’re surrounding yourself with, what you’re reading and how good you are at noticing the emotions that accompany your (seemingly) logical decisions.

Because imagination is something we need more, not less of, to be successful.

Reading sparks my imagination, what sparks yours?

P.S. I’m probably feeling whimsical because we’re visiting Universal Studios in Florida this week :). So expect there to be more movie/ theme park inspired ideas coming your way!