Creating an Irresistible Vision

I recently conversed with an incredible, and soon to be highly successful, entrepreneur.  She had prepared professionally through strategic employment opportunities.  She was passionate and had personally benefited from an investment in her industry.  Yet, she was perplexed.

While conversing, she asked me a question: “How do I write a vision that people can’t resist?”  She wanted to know how to draw people into her movement.

As you’re reading this, perhaps you feel like I’m writing your autobiography.  Maybe you’re prepared, passionate, and perplexed.  You, too, are wondering how to craft an irresistible vision.  How do you cast vision in a manner that compels others to join your movement?

In the Bible, a man named Habakkuk had a conversation with God, the supreme visionary.  During that conversation, God told him, “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it” (Habakkuk 2:2, NIV).  From this conversation, I’d like to share a process that will help you craft an irresistible vision.

1) WRITE SOMETHING:  First, God told him to “write down the revelation …” (Habakkuk 2:2, NIV).  This is what I call free writing.  Just write something.  Write down what you see, or the ideas circling around in your head.  This is not an exercise in perfection.  Instead, just get all of your thoughts on paper as organized or chaotic as they come.

When I was in graduate school, one of my professors often gave us free writing assignments.  She specified a time limit and challenged us to write whatever came to mind.  Through this task, she positioned us to excel during our educational experience.

In this step, I’m asking you to engage in the same assignment.  Just write sentences.  Let your ideas flow freely.

Don’t aim for perfection at this point.  The goal is to transfer your ideas from your brain to paper.  These ideas will serve as the next step in the process.

2) WRITE SIMPLY: Next, God told him, “… and make it plain on tablets …” (Habakkuk 2:2, NIV).  The second step is to write simply.  During this step, try to make sense of the ideas you jotted down in the first step.

Start by looking at what you wrote in the first step, preferably a day or so after you finish that step.  Then, consider the following questions:

1. Are there themes in what you wrote?
2. Can your ideas be condensed into fewer ideas?
3. Is there a systematic way to write your ideas in a sentence or two?

The goal of this step is to, as Andy Stanley calls it, state the vision simply.  As he notes in his book Making Vision Stick, “People don’t remember or embrace paragraphs.  They remember and embrace sentences” (p. 19).  Condense your ideas into a shorter, memorable version.

3) WRITE TO SELL IT: Last, God ends His impartation by saying, “… so that a herald may run with it” (Habakkuk 2:2, NIV).  A herald’s job was to make the news public.  In Habakkuk’s case, the vision needed to be clear enough on a stone tablet that a herald could carry it swiftly to people who needed the message.

I’m asking you to do the same thing.  Write your vision so a herald, which is the plethora of communication venues, can get it to people you want to reach.  Spend time crafting your vision in a manner that it excites other people.  This is a great opportunity to spend time with people, understanding their needs, passions, fears, etc.  It’s easier to craft an irresistible vision for people when you know a lot about them.

After you write it to sell it, take it to the market.  When conversing with people, and the conversation shifts to a place where your pitch is appropriate, give it a try.  See how it impacts people.  If you get some excitement, then you’re on the right track.  If not, follow the three-step process again: write something, write simply, and write to sell it.  Eventually, you will create an irresistible vision!