Stories have always been a very dear part of most of our lives as we grew up. Childhood stories, biographies, horror tales, etc. But among all these different styles of stories, I find ‘fiction’ has immense power. Power to stir up emotions, power to differentiate between the good and the bad, power to give you a directionality towards your goal.
I have always been motivated with stories which sounds impossible to achieve. Not because of its unrealistic narrative by the narrator, but because of the plane of imagination that story can put me in. Many of you call it fiction – and the word fiction was coined to describe situations which are not real. But the way I think it is a bit different from the most – for which sometime people call me too imaginative and at times even crazy. See, what I mean is the story might seem impossible or unrealistic at the current plane of reality. But if we imagine a reality which supports the story, the story might not seem unreal or unachievable.
We have seen this happen time and again around us. When computers were not invented people thought algorithms to predict and replace redundancies in daily life are unreal. But now with super computers and programming languages, algorithms are successfully developed which even do things better than human beings. I follow Elon Musk very closely, and I believe that he thinks the world in a very different way. He thinks about possibilities first and then the resources required to realize the possibility. That’s why Tesla and SpaceX are achieving things which humans never thought they can.
I think fictions have even more power to change the world than real life stories. Why? Because fictions never hold you back. You can think and imagine without worrying about the currently available resources. This helps you innovate. Once you know what you want to achieve, then you can search and develop resources to support the goal. Thinking wild and big is more important than just co-existing with the ‘normality’. That makes you truly futuristic. Don’t just exist, everyone is doing that. Do something different.
Even in organizations where you work – don’t just blindly follow the protocols or what is prevalent. Think through those protocols, understand what the main goal is, and imagine how you can achieve the same by doing things differently. I have done that time and again in my professional career. I challenge the status quo almost every other day. I even challenge my own way of doing things – so much so, that I lose my peace of mind until I achieve something better. Most of the times by doing so, I have found out that there can always be a better way of achieving outstanding performance and efficiency. Challenge the present, for a better future. Bring a change. Design an inspiring future.
So, the next time someone calls you ‘fictitious’ and ‘over-imaginative’- take them as a compliment. Think, imagine and create an inspiring future.
Arnab Pandey 