Vision, the future- backward way
(September 5, 2005)One can also create a vision in a 'future backward' manner, rather than the normal 'present forward' manner
Two weeks ago, we talked about how great vision often begins by questioning the current state of things. Sometimes, it begins elsewhere: great vision is also derived from a future that does not exist. In other words, one can create a vision in a 'future backwards' manner, rather than the conventional 'present forward' manner.
A classic example of such vision is the Motorola pager. In the late 1980s, Motorola did several studies on the critical challenges before people as the economic pace of the world increased. The company figured that people would increasingly be on the move, and a need to stay in contact would arise - one which is easy, low-cost and wireless. The result of this vision was the pager, a low-cost and easy to carry device.
Had it been a present-forward vision, Motorola would have made a cheaper version of a phone. It is another story, though, that cellphones, pagers, PDAs and Blackberrys were destined to blur into each other's functions! Toyota's Green Car initiative was the child of a future-backward vision - it envisaged a world that demands sustainable energy usage and witnesses increased environmental activism.
In the mid-1990s, I visited another Japanese company, Toto. Faced with the ageing population of Japan, it was building toilet equipment to fit in with the needs of quarter of the country's population which would be over 60 years by the dawn of the 21st century. This included toilet design to enable instant path lab tests.
Out of the six billion people in this world, 450 million are below 15 years, living in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. If someone were to create a vision around them and make products or services around that vision, it would fit the bill of 'future backwards'.
Whether we create a vision by questioning the current state of things or imagining a future that does not exist, one thing is certain: great vision feeds on positive action and a network of supporting visions. It is one that is acted upon with a sense of immediacy. Imagination without action is of no use.
Not only does it need to be acted upon, it invariably depends on an eco-system that supports the vision for it to see the light of day. Toyota's Green Car is just in time for a younger generation that is more environmentally conscious. The software vision of India is dependant upon the economic vision of reforms by successive governments. Having said that, let us now shift our focus to the all-important question: who delivers a great vision?
A great vision is always delivered by average people with simple tools. Every great movement in the world - from the march of Moses, to the Independence struggle in India or South Africa, to Mao's Cultural Revolution - had to do with ordinary people with simple tools. The Mahatma delivered the largest democracy with the power of illiterate humanity. Mother Teresa created a 6,000-strong network of sisters who are in 140 countries around the world.
If you see their training and development system, you will marvel at their maturity. I once met a sister who was attending fashion design classes so she could do a 'train-the-trainer' programme for other sisters. The vision? To equip unwed mothers to become economically self-sufficient. Even today, the Missionaries of Charity do not use computers and email because such things could alienate them from the poor whom they serve. Yet, they are on line with each other and run with an amazing degree of simultaneity. Average people and simple tools!
GE's Jack Welch galvanised the sleeping giant with his three words: speed, simplicity and self-confidence. At the root of Japan's economic resurgence was something as simple as the '7 QC Tools' - the concept behind it is something that a fifth grader can understand.
In the next issue, we will conclude this series on building a great vision by looking at the need to take people along and the need to, sometimes, leave a few behind.
