You are just back from vacation and full of new ideas. You get the impression that while you were building sandcastles, you suddenly had a clear vision of your company’s future.

This is normal and to be expected. Our brains need to take a step back to get a clearer picture. Just as you sometimes need to move away from a painting or a cathedral to see it better, you sometimes need to step back to see your work as a whole.

Distance helps us to see and understand things better. Remember that the next time you have an important decision to make, like defining your company’s vision, reviewing your transformation process or developing a new product or a fresh approach.

Get out of the office!

Expose your team to new surroundings, new perspectives. At your next strategic retreat, try creating the distance that a vacation provides. If you can afford to, get out of the office for a few days, and dare to do creative activities that force people to think differently. Getting out of your everyday surroundings will force your brain out of its rut and help you to see the bigger picture.

If time or budget constraints make it impossible for you to hold a multi-day business retreat outside the office to create the needed distance, don’t let that stop you from taking a step back. Move around within the office, or go out to the corner café or for a walk in a park. Or maybe simply try imagining situations where someone else is telling your story, like a journalist, or a gala host.

Whichever path you choose, remember: to define an inspiring and powerful vision, you have to find a way to create the distance you need to see things differently.

Sophie Legendre
Senior Director
Aplus