When was the last time you were encouraged to use your imagination at work? Not to meet a deadline. Not to answer an email. Not to follow an existing process. But to stop, think creatively, and ask: What else is possible?
I recently had the incredible opportunity to step onto the TEDx stage at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia to speak about an idea I call The Imagination Recession.
The idea is simple. As we grow up, we become increasingly focused on productivity, efficiency, responsibilities, and getting things done. Somewhere along the way, we stop making time to play. We stop experimenting. And we stop using our imaginations as freely as we did when we were children.
This isn't only happening in our personal lives. It's happening at work, too. And for organizations that want more creativity, innovation, employee engagement, collaboration, and strategic thinking, I believe that's a problem.
The Imagination Recession: Why Creativity, Play, and Imagination at Work Matter More Than Ever
Think about yourself as a child. A cardboard box could become a store. A couch cushion could become a fort. A pile of LEGO® bricks could become an entire city. You didn't need someone to schedule a brainstorming session or send you a calendar invitation to be creative. You simply imagined something and started creating it.
As adults, we tend to approach problems differently. Instead of asking, "What could this be?" we start asking, "What's the right answer?" We become more concerned with deadlines, results, productivity, and doing things the way they've always been done. That's what I mean when I talk about the Imagination Recession.
We haven't necessarily lost our ability to imagine. We've stopped exercising it. And that distinction matters because it means we can start using it again.
Innovation.
Problem-solving.
Vision.
Strategic thinking.
Adaptability.
Creativity.
Change.
Every one of these requires imagination. You can't create something new if you can't first imagine something different. Yet many workplaces say they want innovation while creating environments that leave very little room for experimentation or creative thinking.
Employees move from meeting to meeting, answer emails, work through their to-do lists, and spend hours behind screens. Then leaders bring everyone together and ask: "Does anyone have any innovative ideas?"
And they're surprised when the room is quiet. We can't demand creativity without creating space for creativity. That's where leadership comes in.
What Is the Imagination Recession?
Watch my TEDx Talk - The Imagination Recession: Why Did We Stop Playing?
Why Imagination at Work Is a Leadership Issue
How LEGO® Serious Play® Encourages Creative Problem-Solving
Now imagine giving every person LEGO bricks and asking them to build their answer first.
The dynamic changes. Everyone has time to think. Everyone builds. Everyone participates. And then everyone has something tangible to explain.
Ideas that once existed only inside someone's head become visible to the rest of the team. That's when conversations can become deeper and new possibilities can emerge. It's one of the reasons I often encourage teams to stop talking and start building.
Your organization's next great idea may already be sitting inside the mind of someone on your team.
The question is whether you've created an environment that helps them bring it out.
Because before we can build better teams, more innovative organizations, and stronger workplace cultures, we have to be able to imagine them first.
Creativity at Work Requires Permission
They need time to consider a question before someone else answers it.
They need to know that an unusual idea won't immediately be dismissed.
They need opportunities to experiment without worrying that every idea must be perfect.
And sometimes they need to stop talking altogether.
This is one reason I use LEGO® Serious Play® when facilitating team-building workshops, leadership retreats, and strategic planning sessions. Instead of asking people to immediately verbalize their answers, I ask them to build.