Visionaries Thrive in Creative Tension

Visionaries thrive in creative-tension! Being a visionary is fraught with obstacles. Just as an artist who looks at a blank canvas with a vision to create a great work of art, a visionary looks out at the current reality seeking ways to transform it to make the world a better place. While they do not know precisely how it will happen, just like an artist, the visionary utilizes creative tension as a way to motivate their actions.

The Law of Creative Tension

The law of creative tension states that tension seeks resolution. For example, if I were to ask you to stretch a rubber band between your right and left forefingers for an extended period, the question becomes, which would win, your fingers or the rubber band? If you are honest, you know in time that the tension of the rubber band would win as your fingers grow tired. This points to the law that tension always seeks resolution. So, how does this apply to a visionary’s experience? All visionaries are dealing with two central possibilities. The first is that their vision will not see the light of day and the current realities will block what they envision. The second possibility is that they will realize their vision, creating the transformation they desire. The greatest visionaries choose to maintain an absolute focus on the later. And as they do, they allow the tension they feel to motivate their efforts.

All Successful Visionaries Thrive in Creative Tension

When a visionary operates from a certainty in their vision, they are unwilling to settle for less. When the visionary maintains focus, the vision itself pulls them forward, and they are unaffected by the current realities that appear to be blocking them. Examples are numerous, but a few examples of visionaries who leaned into the law of creative tension are

• Nelson Mandela and his dream to end apartheid
• Steve Jobs and his desire to create the first Mac
• Howard Schultz and his vision to create a community one cup of coffee at a time.
• Fred Smith and the dream to create overnight shipping
• Martin Luther King and his vision for equal rights.
• Herb Kelleher and his vision to create a different kind of airline

In every case, the odds were stacked against these visionaries. But their brilliance, passion and creative abilities overcame the odds because they refused to settle. They kept their eyes on the prize in the face of every obstacle they faced.

How to Fully Engage Creative Tension

To engage the law of creative tension, follow these steps:

First, Get crystal clear around all aspects of your vision

Most visionaries have a pretty clear view of their solution and how it can add value. That said, most I have worked with have not painted a complete view of what they envision. To create a complete view of one’s vision, the visionary must have a clear picture of the:

• Impact their fully adopted idea will have on those who it will most positively
• Effect the vision will have on the visionary’s life once it unfolds.
• Leadership that the visionary will require to realize their intentions.
• Process that must happen so that the vision will turn into reality.

When these elements are in place and replayed daily in the visionary’s imagination, the unconscious mind goes to work to create opportunities that will support the successful manifestation of the vision.

Second, monitor your doubts and drop them

Most visionaries face doubts. After all, most people that surround a visionary do not see what they see. Instead, these individuals get stuck in the current view of the world. As a visionary interacts with naysayers, they can be influenced by them and collapse into doubt.

However, it is the visionaries responsibility to turn away from their doubts and refocus their attention on their dream. When they do this and turn their attention forward towards their vision, the tension moves them forward.

Third, grow and engage a tribe of believers

A visionary also makes sure they enroll and surround themselves by believers. These individuals reinforce the visionary’s confidence. And more importantly, these tribe members take an active role in promoting the vision as well as provide the talent and resources that add velocity for the transformational idea to turn into reality. Thus, it is essential for a visionary to define the qualities of those who will be most supportive of moving their solutions forward.

Fourth, regularly seek feedback to improve your execution

As the visionary maintains a laser focus on the manifestation of their vision, they become open to feedback. The feedback they most desire to receive includes:

• What will make their solution even more powerful?
• What might be different applications of their vision?
• Who might be a great supporter of their vision?
• What might the visionary be doing that is getting in the way of most expeditiously moving their vision forward?

If you are curious about other ways a visionary can expedite their quest, then please watch my vision to reality case study video.

Conclusion

A visionary’s desires are not small. They are typically envisioning a significant transformation that will have wide-ranging effects. Because of their point of view, they are going against the grain of existing conditioning. Thus, a visionary must live in an unshakable certainty by feeling a high degree of confidence that their vision is already a reality. When they do this, they create momentum towards the manifestation of what they see. Thus, Visionaries thrive in creative tension.