Casting Vision is a Waste of Time

It’s assumed that if you can cast a compelling vision, then people will line up behind it and you might lead something. Start a following.  Influence a tribe.  Do something effective without being a loner.

There’s lots of books written on how to shape and cast a good vision.  A sticky, memorable, effective one.  People even make up words or catchphrases: Visioning, Envisioning, Visioneering, Creative Visualisation, etc.

Most people think vision casting and visualisation is mandatory for successful leadership.

Some think it’s satanic.

But, initially, it can be a waste of time.  For most, if you embark on something new, you can’t really cast a true vision until you’ve put wheels on some sort of strategy, and seen what happens.  It takes a few years to get some real clarity on the mind-picture.  Your vision will change, because the hard work and the passage of time helps you clarify the why of what you’re doing, which informs the what of how it will look in the future.  You also realise that rapid change is permanent, so the what is less concrete than you initially thought.

That’s when casting vision is not a waste of time.

Until then, if you’re a leader, people have just been following you.  They might say that they’re following the vision, but they’re not.   Your passion about why you’re doing something, and your character, will be enough.