Keeping it real

Visionary or dreamer?

Some of the most important work we do at the Agathe Center for Entrepreneurship is to listen carefully to our clients’ concepts, proposals, and projects and then help to ground them in reality. Sometimes, that means helping our clients realize that the vision they carry cannot be viably brought to life. Sometimes, we are helping most by leading them to choose not to act upon their ideas. Even our clients' most solid ideas typically need careful refinement and validation.

In this process of discerning whether a vision is worthy of pursuit, we often share certain ancient wisdom from one older English translation of the Book of Proverbs – “He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chase fantasies lacks judgment” (12:11).  The question we like to put before our clients is, “What is your land? What have you been given to work on? Where does it start and where does it end?” Contributing to defining our client’s understanding of their land is important to us.

Some might say: but aren’t all entrepreneurs a mix of visionary and dreamer? Whether you call it a vision or a dream, the key is to test it against the current reality, as supported by data, and to weigh it against future possibilities, as suggested by relevant trends. You then also need to determine whether this vision or dream is truly the land you’ve been given to work, or whether it is a fantasy that will act as a distraction. Too much ground lays fallow because we chase fantasies.

So cast a vision. Dream dreams. But be sure to be working the land you’ve been given to work.

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