You’re on a journey moving through a dense forest. It’s early morning and the fog begins to thicken as you move down a lightly worn path. You left the more traveled one a few months ago. The journey now has become almost ritualistic and common to you. Your party is led on this magical journey by whomever feels strongest in the moment and away you go. This has been a mystical journey and it is a very malleable reality you live in. It seems to respond to your thoughts and shift in time. No two moments are the same. The forest thins and the sun breaks through the mist. The trees give way to tall grasses and you hear the rush of water in the distance. Your team slows as you look around to get new bearings. You see the trees form a line that meets the grass and the grass fades into the fog. You can’t seem to place the water which must be a nearby river. As you push forward slowly through the grass you see it turn to rocks and a drop off to a steep cliff. The drop is well over twenty feet and your team now stands on the edge of the cliff. Looking over the raven you see a orchard with ripe fruits lined up row after row. Hunger amplifies your desire to get to the other side. Where you are now the fog has drifted to hide the orchard and you look to meet again with your team which has gathered about fifteen feet away and is looking down the river to the left where the cliff slowly lowers to eventually even ground to the river about three miles in the distance. You hear them considering this route. You look to the right and a tightly strung suspension bridge revels itself…

I think we all have great ideas. Things that would be exciting to try. An idea to move forward in a new way. I like to think of a new idea like a suspension bridge. Where you are now in time is one point and where you will be when finished with the idea is another point in time. The bridge is strong with the perfect tension to make it stable and easily crossable. The time to take the steps across the bridge is now. Because this bridge is one across time and may be as exciting as crossing a rope suspension bridge with its planks evenly spaced.

If you wait the distance begins to close and the bridge begins to sag a bit. It has a more pronounced curve now but it is still easily crossable but now is the time. But like most you may wait and analyze its safety. How will your friends and family react? What will your team or manager think of it? If you need their approval then the first step is obviously not telling them but actually working out the idea to be more presentable. In design thinking which is a great topic I will expand on later one goal is to get to a working prototype as fast as possible and get it out there to get some experience, and feedback from the real world so it can be refined as needed. Time is of the essence. We wait another day and the gap closes. As time passes the bridge which was a little scary to cross but obviously strung tightly and strong now gets to be very slack, droopy and thus swaying more in the wind and will be a challenging climb up to the other side.

Our inspired ideas can be like a strong suspension bridge which can lead to a great result on the other side. The steps across the bridge can be exciting and give us a whole new view to consider. We are embarking on a new journey that must be taken with confidence. There is no need to rush but procrastination leads to a droopy more challenging bridge.

What is on the other side of the bridge? It is your idea evolved and expressed. It is taking the journey step by step that keeps the path strong and obvious. Just keep on taking the next step and you will reach the other side and not only will you have new results but also a new more confident and creative you.