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Odd as it might sound, but let me tell you there is some science behind this and where it gets scientifically fascinating: companies, like brains, can rewire themselves. But optimisation thinking<\/em><\/span> creates neural pathways that strengthen existing connections. Imagination thinking<\/em><\/span> creates entirely new neural networks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Optimization asks: “How can we do this 10% better?”\u00a0Imagination asks: “What if this didn’t need to exist at all?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Consider Zoom’s approach during the pandemic. While other video conferencing platforms optimized for enterprise features and security protocols, Zoom imagined a world where a grandmother could host her birthday party with family across six continents\u2014and make it as simple as clicking a link.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Result: Zoom became a verb.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And why this matters more than ever is because in a world where AI algorithms can churn out mass content, factories can spit out identical products by the million, and quarterly targets devour creativity\u2014output obsession is a disease<\/em><\/span>. Brands that confine themselves to rigid metrics inevitably trade soul for spreadsheets<\/em><\/span>. Meanwhile, those who dare to design for imagination<\/em><\/span> unlock new realms of innovation, emotional connection, and long-term growth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some of the wake-up calls most of us would instantly identify with include – Remember Kodak<\/em><\/span>? Optimizing output meant cranking out film rolls at scale\u2014but they ignored the imaginative leap into digital photography. Result? Extinction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Or think of Nokia<\/em><\/span>\u2014masters of efficiency and output, they missed the smartphone imagination wave and lost billions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These are cautionary tales screaming:\u00a0Output without imagination kills relevance.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The output trap<\/em><\/span> is where efficiency eats into your soul<\/em><\/span>. Look around. The corporate world is drowning in a sea of sameness. Which is the reason why we get generic mission statements that sound like AI calibrated horoscopes. ” Disruptive” campaigns that disrupt nothing but attention spans. Vanilla branding<\/em><\/span> that blends into the background like elevator music<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amul<\/em><\/span>\u00a0succeeded not because they churned out more butter faster but by injecting imagination into every ad, every product tweak, every community initiative\u2014turning a brand into a cultural ethos.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Apple\u00a0<\/em><\/span>famously trades incremental output for revolutionary products. The iPhone wasn\u2019t about producing a better phone faster; it was about reimagining communication itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tesla\u00a0<\/em><\/span>does not obsess over conventional car production volumes; it fuels imagination to redefine electric mobility and energy storage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zomato<\/em><\/span>\u00a0evolved from being a delivery app optimized for output to a lifestyle ecosystem designed with imaginative user experiences and hyper-personalization.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let us not overlook the fact that mediocrity is fully booked<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the word \u201cinnovation\u201d shows up more on your PowerPoint than it does in your product or process \u2014 you\u2019re not innovating. You\u2019re powerpointing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And if your team spends more time\u00a0measuring performance<\/em>\u00a0than\u00a0imagining possibility<\/em><\/span>, then congratulations \u2014 you’re in the business of\u00a0producing outputs, not\u00a0creating breakthroughs.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Imagination doesn\u2019t need a massive R&D budget. It needs audacity, permission, and a healthy disrespect for \u201cthe way things have always been done.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Output is Linear. Imagination is Liminal.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zerodha<\/em><\/span> reimagined stockbroking from a geek’s garage. boAt<\/em><\/span> turned earphones into fashion statements. Phool.co <\/em><\/span>turns temple waste into luxury incense and leather substitutes. Paper Boat<\/em><\/span> imagined nostalgia as a drinkable asset class. Netflix<\/em><\/span> designed for imagination. Airbnb<\/em><\/span> imagined homes without hospitality degrees. Patagonia<\/em><\/span>\u00a0imagines capitalism with conscience.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Permit me a bit of purposeful provocation here. As a brand or organisation do you punish failures or reward bold hypothesis<\/span><\/em>?\u00a0 Are your processes designed to sustain status quo or provoke surprise<\/em><\/span>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Imagination is a strategy<\/em><\/span> and dare I add, the next big competitive advantage<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a world where AI can optimise faster than any human, your only unfair advantage is imagination. You don\u2019t outspend your competition. You\u00a0out-dream<\/em><\/span> them. You don\u2019t outproduce the market. You\u00a0outimagine<\/em><\/span>\u00a0it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the see-saw between output and imagination, imagine what the iconic management guru Tom Peters<\/a> would have asked us to accomplish: KPIs & OKRs to Wild Cards and What Ifs; ROI(Return on Investment) to ROE(Return on Enchantment); Design Thinking Workshops to Design Thinking Retreats; Customer Feedback to Customer Daydreams; Market Fit to Meaning Fit; Productivity tools to Possibilities Jam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cross-Pollinate Ideas<\/em><\/span> aka Borrow from other industries, cultures, even failures, to spark imagination.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some food for torque to unleash imagination. Do Nothing, Pause for Thoughtlessness. If your calendar has no white space, your mind has no blue sky. Accept that fact that the boardroom can accommodate fiction. Let leaders read and pitch sci-fi ideas. Do you think Metaverse was born from an Excel Sheet? Turn hierarchy on its head. Let interns and juniors break your business model. Calibrate an imagination budget<\/em><\/span>– no ROI expected. Only ROFL| WTF & OMG.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We should forever be asking: What\u2019s Your Brand\u2019s ROE \u2013 Return on Enchantment?<\/em> Because while you are busy measuring output, the world is<\/span> actually<\/span> seeking awe.\u00a0 <\/em>Because the question isn\u2019t\u00a0how much output you can produce. It\u2019s\u00a0how much wonder you can unleash<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And as we conclude, some truth be told, inconvenient as it may seem:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019re hiring only for skill, not for curiosity, you\u2019re building a robot farm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your brainstorms are just \u201caction items in disguise,\u201d call them what they are: meetathons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your brand decks use more words like “scale” than “soul,” you\u2019re scaling\u00a0sameness<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In conclusion, here’s the core provocation: “Are you Optimising for Output or Designing for Imagination?”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0Ready to torch some tired templates? Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At one of our recent C Suite Leaders Meet that our organisation ISD Global curates every three to four months both in Dubai and India, a very accomplished and senior leader came up to me and whispered ” Everything here is optimised for output. But nothing here is designed for imagination “. She sounded … Continue reading “Output builds brands.Imagination builds legends-Which are you betting on?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2266,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions\/2266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Analogous-Inspiration.jpeg\")
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