There are a large number of things in life that get me fired up. Ranked at the top of the list is being told: “It is not possible.” Maybe it is the deeply indoctrinated anything is possible or you can do anything if you set your mind to it philosophy thrusted upon my generation or, perhaps, it is merely my own inherited stubbornness. Whichever it may be, nature or nurture, I am wired to not accept no for an answer. I might even see it as a challenge.
When I was younger, finding my feet at WITS as a student, a lecturer once gave us a series of “impossible” tasks to complete. The tasks included prompts such as: “move across the room without touching the floor!” The requests sounded utterly absurd, but I relished in the challenge of finding a way to make it happen. It taught me to realise the unimaginable. It is a skill I am grateful for acquiring at a young age. It led me to understand that things are not impossible, people are.
How many people do you know who are willing to take on the impossible? Who is willing to courageously allow their imagination to navigate the improbabilities until a moment of light strikes through the search? I know many people who would be willing to follow this courageous person but less who are willing to be this courageous person.
Do you remember being a child setting off on an adventure with your friends? No one knew where the day would lead, but somehow in the magic of imagining a world beyond the back alleys of a run down suburb, beyond who we were when we went to school or church – we solved mysteries, invented magic potions and saved lives by playing together. We didn’t know what the end would look like, but we adventured along, fearlessly. It is perhaps in that togetherness that the impossible becomes imaginable.
As an individual, I can be as versatile, dynamic and impossible as I allow myself to be, however, when it comes to the world outside of me, I would want to partner up with someone who also wants to make the impossible happen. Someone who looks at the challenges we face and says: “Are you up for an adventure?”
For me, partnership is that magical place where imaginative misfits collude in a shared vision of the greater good. Equitable partnership is not only knowing how much value each partner brings but also reveling in the joy of how we are doing this why together. I think about it as an adventure. We have lives to change, a world to rid of injustice, a future to build that is filled with opportunity, art and dignity. If this is the underpinning of a partnership then we have the wind at our backs, the mutual respect and the resilience it takes to create a positive impact in our personal lives, at work and in society at large.
I am grateful to say that in my life and in my role as Interim CEO at the Arts & Culture Trust I have found incredible partners, who I am co-creating wonderful adventures with. Adventures that bring positive change to society.
My challenge to my fellow misfits and unconventional leaders is: How can we inspire more adventures? How can we think more about the potential of unlimited imagination and the courage of creating a better world through partnership?
Tell them Tata: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
