This Moment Used To Be The Unimaginable Future
In my world, long-term thinking usually means setting a 20-year goal for my future. And that can put us on a good path. Cathedral thinking moves that goal one or two hundred years. What would your goal be then?
These articles ask us to reflect on our future with visionary eyes.
Roman Krznaric believes that we are addicted to short-term thinking. He illustrates six ways we can practice long term thinking, including cathedral thinking. When we see things with a longer lens, some of our decisions change, even if we do not understand the unpredictable consequences of our choices.
Bonnie Bazata impresses upon us in this short piece that we can overwhelm the world with little bits of good. We can overcome poverty, or build a cathedral when we use non-predatory power to create a vision that will bear fruit in the lifetimes beyond us. (3-minute read & 13-minute video)
Care for Others & Bring out your Best with Cathedral Thinking
Jane Davidson gives us an example of cathedral thinking with the Well-Being & Future Generations (Wales) Act of 2015 which asks policymakers to think forward about the risks and consider “an innovate, productive and low carbon society which recognizes the limits of the global environment (5-minute read)
Is it Time for 21st Century Cathedral Thinking?
Cathedral thinking is something that humans have been practicing since there have been humans. Naomi Stanford brings this type of thinking into our world. She picks pieces from the from around the internet to find examples of bringing cathedral thinking into our world. (5-minute read)
Cathedral Thinking – Are We Capable and Willing?
In an interview with Bina Venkataraman, about her book, The Optimist Telescope, Nicholas Thompson grounds our cathedral thinking by asking “whether it’s worth it to save a baby today if it means a million people will die a century from now.” (13-minute read)
How to Practice Long-Term Thinking in a Distracted World
Interlude
How Long is Long Term?
In my coaching business, I am often referencing long-term goals to se strategies and tasks for shorter term milestones. For businesses, long term usually isn’t more than five years. For individuals, long term often isn’t more than twenty years. In Seven Habit for Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey introduced a eulogy exercise that has participants reflecting on what you want friends and family to be saying about you, sincerely, at your funeral. To be a good ancestor, we need to extend that out further to include the stories that your great-great-grandchildren tell about you, possibly answering the question, what did you do when you knew?
It’s 3:23 in the morning and I’m awake… because my great-great grandchildren won’t let me sleep.
My great great grandchildren ask me in dreams,
What did you do while the planet was plundered?
What did you do when the earth was unraveling?
surely you did something ?…
When the seasons started failing?
surely you did something?
As the mammals, reptiles, and birds were all dying?
surely you did something?
Did you fill the streets with protest when democracy was stolen?
What did you do once you knew?–Drew Dellinger
It is not just cathedrals that can be built with grandmaster plans. Man landed on the moon with one person’s long-term vision. The sewer system in London was built in Victorian times twice as large as necessary with sturdy concrete to withstand future population growth and material degradation. Cathedral thinkers have been thinking big and long-term for all of human history.
What does cathedral thinking look like from my suburban abode? I have planted shade-producing trees; I have planted a moderately productive vegetable garden; I am conscientiously reducing my plastic waste. Those actions feel very personal and small. And honestly, I don’t do it expecting my grandchildren to be talking about them. But what if everyone in my neighbourhood planted three shade-producing trees; what if half the families in my neighbourhood planted a few vegetables instead of buying them from Mexico (of course, in July, near me, local farmer produce is so fresh & easy); and more families try the reduce side of the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle mantra, it doesn’t need to be my legacy. It is ubiquitous and we would find our great-great-grandchildren enjoying some shade.
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
— Pericles