I'm a Trekkie.
I grew up immersed in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I devoured Deep Space Nine and Voyager. And while I'm not as up-to-date with the more recent incarnations, Star Trek is still an important part of my identity.
Today, I carry around an iPhone that is remarkably similar to the tricorders and tablets Dr. Crusher, Data, and La Forge carried around. I wear a Watch that can alert me if my heart rate peaks unexpectedly and can search for information using the sound of my voice.
While I might not be able to step on a transporter pad and beam myself around the world yet, it's easy to look around and feel like I'm living in the future.
And the fact that so much of the technology that I use on a daily basis is reminiscent of what I grew up watching on Star Trek is not an accident.
Star Trek is a vision of the future. The people who loved that universe—and loved that vision—are the people who are innovating and designing the products we use today.
They are making that vision reality.
I often have conversations with small business owners about the visions they have for their businesses. After all, it's hard to know what they might need or what experiences I have that might be useful to them if I don't know what they're working toward.
Understanding the vision you have for your business is especially important right now.
First, reacquainting yourself with your vision is an important part of any planning process.
Second, you might be seeing your vision in a new way. Your vision might be solidifying. It might feel more urgent. It might be growing in a new direction. The economic & cultural upheaval we're living through is creating new context for the future of the businesses we're building.
Getting clear on the future you are building toward is key for the action you take today.
Look, I know we might have smartphones and smart thermostats and smart TVs if it weren't for Star Trek. I know we might still have gotten Siri or Alexa to tell us the weather or update us on the latest headlines without hearing Majel Barrett's voice answering Picard's queries.
But having that vision made it all the more likely that someone would work to make it real.
Which is why I've been insisting the business owners I work with spend time getting clear on their vision--whether for the first time or for the umpteenth time.
It's easy to think that getting clear on the vision for your business is not nearly as important as how to find more customers, how to price your offers, how to close more sales, or how to manage your workload.
It's easy to fixate on these more "pressing" tasks and put off strategic development for another day. But...
Not having a clear vision for your business might very well be the main reason why decision-making and followthrough are so fraught.