On the imagination thing

So, "it's all about imagination" is it?  You may be wondering what this bold and slightly abstract statement is meant to convey - so here goes.

It was inspired by the book The World Is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-first Century, by Thomas L. Friedman, which I happened to be reading when I first set up this blog.  The book describes the powerful technological forces that have recently come together to enable knowledge, resources and people to connect from all over the planet as never before.  The idea is that fibre-optic cables are making the world just one vast market and one vast pool of intelligence - and, therefore, effectively flat.

As I was pondering about what main theme my blog would take up, I got to the end of the chapter entitled "How Companies Cope", which concludes with the author recounting a conversation with a friend who runs a photography and media business.  The friend states that "Everyone can see what everyone else is doing now, and everyone has the same tools, so [to succeed] you have to be the very best, the most creative thinker."  The friend goes on to say "It used to be about what you were able to do, clients would say, 'Can you do this?  Can you do that?' now it's much more about the creative flair and personality you can bring [to the assignment] ..it's all about imagination." [page 474].

That final statement just stood up off the page.  It is the key reality that all of us knowledge workers need to recognise, accept and then re-design our businesses to take advantage of.  What better theme could there be for a blog aimed at accountancy professionals, launched in early 2008?