He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet.
~Joseph Joubert
Sometimes I wonder if our ancestors invented some of our greatest inventions by accident or through tireless effort and thought. Take the wheel for example. How did they know that by carving a jagged stone into a smooth oval, they could accomplish twice as much and travel twice as far? This weekend my wife made a comment about our daughter having such an incredible imagination. Without letting her know I was listening, I took note of my daughter's fantasy land. I concur that my daughter is quite the visionary. While playing with stuffed animals she made all the animals with wings walk and all the reptiles fly. I asked her about that and she told me that no one told the alligator he couldn't fly so he likes it better in the sky than in the water. I interpret Mr. Joubert's quote to mean that our imagination is only as good as our ability to put thought into action. I suppose this where we get some of our fancy clichés like 'where the rubber meets the road' or 'where our pen meets the paper'. What good is imagination if we aren't willing to risk the possible? I've been writing these weekly messages for well over a year now and after taking a quick scan of the weekly challenges, I discovered that in some ways too I am challenging you to use your imagination. The challenge isn't so much thinking about what you are capable of doing but actually doing it!
My challenge to you this week is to have a discussion about Mr. Joubert's quote. My interpretation of his message is just that; mine. What do his words mean to you? Having the conversation with a family member, colleague, or friend may provide a unique learning opportunity. Mindful meditation on his words may challenge you to deeply reflect on how we as leaders can take our ideas and strategically implement them to accomplish our team or company goals. You may want to discuss how our limited imagination gets in the way of progress (did you know there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar?). Or how those with imagination and fear are their own worse enemy (recall that it has only been a little over 500 years that we learned the Earth isn't flat!). Either way, how Alonzo interprets Joubert's message is irrelevant to how it may speak to you. I suppose it's not as important for me to know whether the wheel was invented by accident or on purpose. What's most important is that after the first attempts to make the idea a reality, he or she didn't quit.
Alonzo Kelly
President
Milwaukee Urban League Young Professionals
