Beth Comstock - Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change

The future is not in our stars but in our imaginations, and our actions.

We can no longer afford to fail to imagine.

Shift mind-set. Every change-maker learns to give herself permission to push outside expectations and limitations.

Permission GrantedIgnore the GatekeepersDevelop Social CourageNo = Not Yet

Build Bridges, Not WallsTake the Job No One WantsMake the Work Great

Discovery is about infusing yourself with a spirit of inquiry and curiosity, turning the world into a classroom for learning and for unearthing ideas that can make change possible.

Go Boldly into the UnknownOptimize Today and Build TomorrowSpark New Perspectives

Live in the MarketProtect a Class of IdeasGet Outside the JarGet Weird

Pattern RecognitionMeet Change EarlyThe Change-makers Dilemma

Innovation is the result of seeking out tension, not avoiding it. Its not about reassurance or consensusit often encourages confrontation.

Acknowledge RealityConflict as an Engine of CreativityAnalog Dollars for Digital Pennies?

Tension Is the Price of AdmissionThe Grinf*ckPsychological Safety

Challenge Status QuoAuthoritys EdgeConstraints Are Necessary

You have to adapt your narrative to help the people in an organization understand their world. That, in turn, will change how they act in order to create a different, better future.

Strategy Is StorySensemakingMake the Invisible VisibleShout Louder Than We Spend

Getting Over Functional FixednessGo See for YourselfRolling ThunderPlatform Power

Share a new mind-set, spreading ideas bottom-up and outside-in, finding dedicated agents of change within the company to make the story their own.

Whos in Charge?EmergencePremature ScalingReturn on FailurePartner Power

FastWorksTest & LearnNew to BigSuccess TheaterRefounding

We cant give up on imagination and possibility. Tomorrow always comes.

If you see a better way, you have an obligation to pursue it. Thats the change-makers rallying cry.

I was able to see the sunset fade from red to purple as the plane began to descend over the rolling hills of Northern Virginia. A few moments later we were down, puttering to a stop in a small airstrip carved into rural Virginia farmland barely 40 miles from where Id grown up.

A man in a blue jumpsuit waved me over after the pilot had helped me down the planes narrow stairs to the grass. As I walked toward him, carrying my overstuffed tote bag, notes hastily crammed in the side pocket, I heard the planes engine fire back up. Soon it was riding up over the trees, and banking into the purple sky.

Anything I need to know? I asked.

Sorry, maam. They just pay me to bring the planes in and then guide them back out, he said.

I didnt know exactly who was going to pick me up, and I had no number to call. All I knew was that the CIA wanted my advice. I closed my eyes and inhaled the autumn air. Wild grasses, oak and pine trees. The smell of home.

Soon a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up in front of me. Three men get out, each in a dark jacket and, of course, aviator-style glasses. Beth? Come with us.

We talked a bit about the weather, about my hometown (where one of them lived), before I turned my mind to the notes Id scribbled down after a brief talk with the CIA deputy director a few days before:

Were siloed. We need to collaborate more with each other and across the agency.

Its hard to keep up with the pace of change. Were in the business of secrets and yet we need to continually open up to new perspectives, to taking risks, and being ready when change shows up.