"Limitations live only in our minds.  But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless" - Jamie Paolinetti

Have you recently found yourself looking around your company, wondering what ever happened to the cutting edge, entrepreneurial culture that once flourished?  Have you been spending all of your time simply wading through the morass of bureaucratic red tape that exists?  Has the idea pipeline effectively been shut down?  And where did all of those bright employees go?  You remember them don’t you…they were the folks constantly pitching the “next big thing?”

Successful small firms, the kind motivated to thrive and survive, are often fueled by the passion of their founders or significant contributors.  The imagination required to keep one step ahead of the competition and forge market space is immense.  However, as firms grow larger and face increased scrutiny from competitors, shareholders, regulators, and the like, the tasks of simply maintaining focus on “today” often overshadows the ability to dream of “tomorrow.” Somewhere along the road to success, imagination took a back seat to protecting what you had. 

So far, you have managed to tread water, but in today’s business environment, you won’t be able to tread water for long.  It’s time to reawaken that imagination.  It’s time to re-kindle the passion your company once had.  It’s time to take some risks and move forward again.

So how do you find your corporate imagination?  Simple:  Use it.  Also, try these suggestions and see where they lead:

•    Draw a picture
•    Write Backwards
•    Stay up all night
•    Pretend
•    Play dolls with your daughter or trucks with your son
•    Try role playing
•    Try changing jobs for the day with someone at or near the bottom of your org chart
•    Notice the details all around you that you are typically too busy to notice
•    Write down your problems on a sheet of paper and then forget all about them

Reawakening a corporate imagination is about listening to the ideas already circulating within your organization and doing something with them, or bringing in some fresh ideas via new employees with diverse backgrounds, or lowering the acceptable risk factor a little bit, or supporting some thought time for your employees.

Remember, you and your employees, in essence, your entire organization, are only limited by your collective imaginations.  It isn't that hard to regain your imaginative spirit.  You just need to have the courage to set it free again.  Take some quiet time and allow your mind to wander.  Imagine all of the possibilities.