The Art and Science of Making the Impossible Possible

Kimberly Wiefling, Author of Scrappy Project Management

What seems impossible, but if it were possible, would transform your business, your team, maybe your entire life for the better?  That is the paradigm-shifting question that I learned many years ago, and have frequently used to achieve what seems impossible, but is merely difficult.  This question has the power to unlock possibilities that otherwise would never peek out from behind the cloak of consciousness.

Human beings are animals, and we spend a lot of our time on autopilot.  We live many of the minutes, hours and days of our lives in some kind of trance state, highly functioning, no doubt, but not highly consciously aware.  Haven’t we all found ourselves at the end of a busy day wanting to shout out “Has anyone seen where the day went?”  And I have personally been on long drives in the car when I suddenly wondered who had been driving for the last 100 miles.  I had no conscious memory of the drive.  Most of my brain was off scampering around somewhere, but fortunately some part of it was driving the car!

“What seems impossible, but if it were possible, would transform your life for the better?” is what’s sometimes called a “hypnotic” question.  It momentarily suspends critical thinking, bypasses our current assumptions and beliefs about reality, and transports us to a future possibility free of any practicality.  Usually we’re pretty adept at screening out avenues of thinking that are a complete waste of time.  Practically speaking, the evolution of the species hasn’t depended on people having flights of fancy about seemingly impossible outcomes.  And the modern world certainly doesn’t give us a lot of encouragement to roam through a jungle of dreams.  The pressure to be “realistic” and avoid doing anything that might result in a mistake, failure or public humiliation is pretty strong.

I recently watched a hilarious YouTube video by Ken Robinson that claims that schools are to blame for killing creativity.  Schools may contribute, but that’s just the beginning.  Bit by bit I’ve seen the spirit crushed out of people in the corporate world, what’s left of their souls slinking out the door at the end of a long day, perhaps a few tattered remains of their dignity intact.  It’s a devastating consequence of the wage slavery that is epidemic in this world, and worsening with the current economic crisis.  People need to work at jobs they hate in order to afford the houses they live in to be close to the jobs they hate.  Fascinating!

That’s why I ask this provocative question to people every chance I get.  It frees them from their shackles, if only momentarily, and allows their mind to soar to heights from which they might glimpse their own potential.  I want every single person in my work and in my life to feel fully alive, appreciated, and in touch with their extraordinary potential.  Oh, sure, there are people who drive me nuts and I’d rather go to the dentist than work with them, but in those few moments when I’m at my best this is my sincere intention.  As business leaders we are more than a means to get the next product out the door, or to bring the next dollar in.  We’re creating an ecosystem for our people, and I strongly believe that we have a responsibility to create a place where both we and they can grow and thrive.

Once a conversation for possibilities begins it transforms everything in its path.  When people know each other’s dreams some kind of magic happens that must be experienced to be understood.  In my experience, that’s good for business!  And way more fun for everyone than wage slavery.  Don’t believe me!  Try it on yourself first, then unleash it on the rest of your world.  If you have the courage to ask such questions you’ll be rewarded with a few blank stares, but an ocean of opportunities.

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Tags: Difficult, Failure, Hypnotic, Impossible, Possible, Realistic, Transform