OK – in a very political cynical season, would you please take a moment to dream?
On October 11, 2016, as his days in office moved toward their end date, President Barak Obama issued an open letter that it’s time to go to Mars and time to reinvest in space exploration. Taking an audacious leap into the future is commonplace for Presidents – real and fictional (I see you Leo McGarry) late in their second terms. But what can we learn from this?
First, its never too late to be ambitious. Nestled in his letter is a realization that this goal builds on years of investment in basic scientific research and a push to increase competition in the aerospace industry. What this says to me, and all of us, is that each day in our current job gives us the opportunity to leverage everything we’ve done so far. And if you haven’t begun investing in your personal or professional future, today is the day to start.
Second, as a communicator, clarity of your ultimate goal matters. The President said in his note, “We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America’s story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time.” This builds upon President Kennedy’s September 1962 call to send an astronaut to the Moon “in this decade.” Clear vision of a goal allows an organization to rally all the necessary resources and organizational will to make the goal a reality. In President Obama’s case, it’s a starting gun on the next space race.
In your case, what are you focusing your efforts and vision toward accomplishing?
Finally, at all costs…be generous. For years, Elon Musk has urged us as a civilization to go to Mars and come back. Its noteworthy that it had an interesting impact on the aerospace industry. Musk’s investments at SpaceX have coaxed Boeing out of the cave and into the space race. Recently the Boeing leadership announced it would be a Boeing rocket that took us to Mars. Musk’s response… “Cool.” If you devoted your life and net worth to a goal, could you be this generous? As a communicator, are you being generous? Are you giving others access to the platforms you’ve built (like your social media following?) What would happen if you did?
President Obama imagines a time in the future where he is looking up to the sky with his grandchildren on his shoulders thinking about his impact on humanity and space. In 15 to 20 years, what will you point to?