I have, on many occasions and with some justification, been told that I am a dreamer.
I love exploring seemingly unrelated ideas in order to find new connections. I guess, I’m curious and creative.
As human beings we are born curious, drawn to the interesting and new.
However, successful people know that dreams can never take form without action and real pragmatism. They need an approach that creates tangible pathways and processes, like rungs on a ladder, that can help to convert a dream into an aspiration and an aspiration into reality.
Pragmatists know, that while ideology can be a selfish and solo pursuit, for things to actually happen there needs to be compromise, collaboration and consensus.
In the UK, as we currently witness political chaos grow, it is important to realise that although vision, values and ideas are vital, they need to be applied through the lens of pragmatism otherwise they end up disappearing altogether.
Polarisation is so often caused by too much ideology and not enough reality and I fear that we find ourselves in that place. We seem to be driven by anger, fear and tribalism, fuelled by ideology.
Maybe, if we all find a way to think and work more pragmatically right now, we can achieve something that would allow us all to dream a little again.
We need real leaders; people who know how to find the right balance between ideology and pragmatism, leaders who are not driven by pride, ego or a pursuit of power.
