Just imagine

Albert Einstein said “imagination is more important than knowledge”.

What did he mean?

Is he saying that creative thinking trumps rational thinking? That could be it. Our brains are good at collecting facts. But it’s the connections we make between those facts that create the magic. Good to remember when every fact is just a click away.

Or perhaps he meant that your dreams will take you further than your books? That seems nice too. Collecting knowledge and experience might get you off the ground, but it will be the bold vision you imagine that will take you into the stratosphere.

It also reminds me of Simon Sinek’s rule: ‘people don't buy what you do they buy why you do it’.

For Sinek, What you do is the outer layer, the functional thing you make, the result you get. Digging deeper reveals How you do it, which gets closer to the heart of it. But the real magic lies even deeper still. When you truly know Why you do what you do, things really open up.

Think of the battle of Microsoft, who told us what they made, versus Apple who told us why. Microsoft had a product. An operating system that you had to have, because everyone else had it. Apple had a belief. They believed in challenging the status quo and they invited anyone else who shared that belief to get on board.

I haven’t looked to see what the experts thought Einstein was on about with this quote. Maybe I’m off the mark. But the message for me is heart before brain. I think I’ve spent enough time doing things the other way around. Maybe this Albert fella was onto something.