A Word That Has Changed the World

Some people today are going to discuss how dreams have changed the world; others will talk about imagination, inspiration, or creativity. However, because dreams can be ambiguous and inspiration and creativity can lack clarity and direction, I am going to discuss something more concrete. I’m going to examine a capacity to conceive of or plan the future with both imagination and intelligence; an ability that integrates reason and creativity to illuminate our future course. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am going to reveal the real force that drives our progress; I am going to share with you my thoughts concerning why “vision” is a word that has changed the world.

Looking back on history, greatness has often come from talented visionaries. Walt Disney was a visionary. He conceived of a paradise in which imagination outweighed anything else. In it, children could frolic and fairy tale characters were brought to life. His vision became a reality years later as Disneyland and Disney Theme Parks spread throughout the world. Martin Luther King was a visionary. While most of us recall his “I Have a Dream” speech, it is his blueprint for a society replete with racial freedom for which we remember him. Deng Xiaoping was also a visionary. While his policies can be considered controversial, the fact of the matter is that those policies have lifted four hundred million people out of poverty since their implementation---a feat never before achieved in recorded history.

In contrast, if a person or a nation lacks vision, then that person or that nation stands to suffer. The second half of the nineteenth century might be the most humbling period in China’s history. For too long, the whole nation, especially the ruling class, had been intoxicated with a celestial pride. When realization came that Westerners possessed many of the Confucian virtues, such as benevolence, righteousness and decorum, together with modern scientific achievements galore, their racial pride was shattered. In modern times, lacking vision produces even more egregious consequences. For example, Kodak, formerly the world’s biggest film manufacturer, popularized photography a century ago; but for too long it remained dependent on its 20th-century cash cow, and failed to realize the potential of digital photography. Thus, because of Kodak’s myopia, it fell behind its competitors and is now struggling between Scylla and Charybdis.

Vision determines at what height we stand. The higher we stand, the farther we see and the brighter future we have. George Washington Carver, a great American scientist, once said “Where there is no vision, there is no hope”. Vision is powerful. It creates the energy and will to galvanize change and it inspires individuals and organizations to commit, to persist and to prosper.