THE LIGHTWAVE BLOG

Vision

Vision is probably something we’d all love to say we have. Surely though vision is nothing more than the ability to see… but see what? See the car in front of you as you sit in traffic trying to get to work or the meeting you’re running late for! See that time is getting away from you! See the end of the World is upon us! See the flowers! See a better future! See a better future – now that is surely the epitome of VISION. Many do not have such vision, but others without doubt do.  Without a means of ‘creating’ it, such vision is nothing more than a mirage that surely only lunatics would pursue? Lunatics or geniuses perhaps? Or maybe just people with a genuine belief that a better future can be summoned.

For anything to succeed by anything other than luck and good fortune it requires a plan. The vision of building a better future and the knowledge that a plan is needed has lead to many, many visionaries coming together from different interest groups and intellectual backgrounds to formulate a VISION PLAN for much of this planet’s land and water usage, mostly for us humans to inhabit.

“The beginnings of something great, a clear picture of a better future and a plan that indicates the outcome”.

But still it is just a vision. It takes mastery to decipher the reality from the whimsical, so further more visionaries from more interest groups and intellectual backgrounds often combine to create a MASTER PLAN.

With all this collective intelligence and energy focus, one might consider a master plan to see us well on the way to the better future. Except for one thing; the need to resolve the detail.  With the devil hiding in the detail, it is tempting to throw out the detail resolution and just get on with building the master plan… it is after all for a better future. The devil is said to be in the detail because it is so, and visionaries would be wise to take heed and plan further for the devil. The detail folk rather than the visionaries are usually the ones to flush out issues and develop a DETAILED MASTER PLAN. Once the vision is explored down to the detailed issues, the better future often starts to lose some of its luster – some of its radiant appeal that existed back when it was merely a vision. It may even further dilute through the detail resolution to become something that bears little resemblance to its early conceptual beginnings.

After many years in the creative industries, having always surrounded myself with far more talented people than I, the thing that I absolutely know with all conviction is that when Vision and Detail combine through a Plan (Strategy) and are held in context, the outcomes are real and sustainable. Over the recent past I have witnessed occasions when ‘Vision’ is denied the opportunity to meet ‘Master’ let alone go on to embrace ‘Detail’. I have on these occasions observed what appears to be the making of mirages… they are out there!

As I sit here writing this blog on the Gold Coast (Australia’s crime capital) my home town of Croydon, London, England is being set fire by looters age 9 and above. Iconic buildings of my youth, symbols of the town’s purpose and very existence have been burnt to the ground. During these austere times in Europe where the middle classes have stepped down the rung, it is surely no surprise that the downward pressure has forced the historical ‘have not’s who have had lots’ back into a position of ‘have nots’… Not really a surprise therefore that these kids who are only just past toddler tantrums are left very confused with nothing more than a hoodie, an iPhone, Twitter and some instructions on how to make a petrol bomb and where to deploy it, to guide them to take what they have come to believe is rightfully theirs! Was this in The Vision? Was it in the Master Plan or was it left out in the detail (devils in there remember)?

I would like to conclude with the following advice: do not be afraid of the devil in the detail – embrace it – but ensure the detail maintains and ultimately respects the DNA of its beginnings, that of The Vision and that of The Master Plan… that of a better future.

Visionaries you likely are if you are reading this and in some way you are linked to development, progress, making change, design, creativity and the quest for a better future. Now is a perfect time to have vision, plan for its manifestation and afford it the opportunity. Lest not forget that as we plan to create something we plan to take something away, so we owe it to our futures to do it well. We would love to hear from you if you would like to contribute, Vision, Mastery or Detail in the making of a better future.

Listen, Understand, Create.

Written by Nigel Tapper