On the always interesting RSA Podcast, Roberto Unger was talking about how change happens.

He mentioned a phrase I hadn’t heard before – structural imagination. The suggestion is that change often fails because there is a lack of imagination about how things might be.

Too often we present alternatives which are too trivial and limited by our current state. Similarly, we fail because we’re seen as too future seeking and utopian.

By not embracing structural change fully in learning, we often end up with trivial channel shift or ideas which can’t be understood and realised.

Use your imagination but make sure people can understand what the practical outcomes might be.