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Core value · Creation family
Imagination
Picturing what doesn’t exist yet
What does imagination mean as a core value?
Imagination as a core value means picturing what doesn’t exist yet, whether a product, a plan or a different future, and enjoying time spent among those possibilities.
You can see things that aren’t there yet. An empty room becomes a finished kitchen in your head, a vague strategy becomes a scene of customers using the product, a bedtime story grows dragons and rules of its own. You trust that inner picture and enjoy spending time in it. You’re often the first to ask “what if?”, and people who only want to deal with what already exists can puzzle you.
What does imagination look like in practice?
- You explain a proposal by describing what an ordinary day would look like once it’s done.
- You daydream on purpose, and notice when you haven’t had time to.
- You play out several versions of a difficult conversation in your head before having it.
- You read, watch or listen to stories that take you somewhere unfamiliar.
- You ask “what if we did the opposite?” when a team is stuck.
When is imagination overplayed?
A vivid imagination can spend more time in possible futures than in the real one. You might picture disasters that never come and worry as if they had, fall for a version of a person or a plan that doesn’t match reality, or struggle to explain to others what you can see so clearly. The mature form uses imagination to open options, then checks back with the facts. A simple check is to write down your biggest current worry and mark which parts have actually happened.
Often confused with
Imagination vs Vision
Vision is a clear picture of one specific future you’re committed to reaching. Imagination ranges across many possibilities, most of which you’ll never pursue.
Imagination vs Creativity
Creativity is about making and generating. Imagination can stay entirely in your head and still matter to you.
Imagination vs Wonder
Wonder is awe at what already exists. Imagination conjures what doesn’t.
Questions to sit with
- What are you picturing about your future right now that you haven’t told anyone?
- When has an imagined worst case shaped a decision more than the real evidence did?
- What do you do to help other people see what you’re imagining?
More values in Creation
Making things that didn’t exist before.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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