Rendering things fully – photographically – doesn’t leave much room for the viewer to participate in shaping, forming, or interrogating the idea. Words, on the other hand, are the other end of the spectrum. I can describe a ‘blonde man wearing a suit’ but you’ll need to fill in the gaps and the blonde man you imagine will be different to the one another will imagine. This phenomenon explains why we often think books are better than the movie – we’re participating more and not being shown that the main character is actually Ryan Reynolds because a movie director thought it should be.
This has profound implications for stakeholder management, pitching ideas at the right time, and collaboration towards an idea that’s better than the sum of each of everyone’s individual input.
By leaving things a little abstract, we offer an invitation to others; an opportunity to participate in our art and ideas. It’s fundamentally an act of generosity and humility. If people contribute to the idea, they’re more invested in seeing it succeed because they own a little piece of it. And, most of the time, the power of a group of humans working together on the same fundamental idea can influence more in the world than a single person working alone. So, why wouldn’t we give our ideas their best chance to succeed by offering them up with room to grow through the care of others?