Don't leave out the impossible

Many brainstorming sessions loiter at the intersection of feasible and probable. Nothing interesting is happening there.

Whether you’re designing an app, planning a surprise birthday party, or tackling climate change, you must include the “impossible” in your solution set.

Think about what counted as “impossible” throughout history: manned flight, the telephone, women’s right to vote, a cure for polio, and space travel. Impossible is not a fixed truth. It is a construct.

Don’t leave out the impossible. It’s harmless. It’s costless. And it’s necessary: if you want to build a future that doesn’t exist, you need to imagine it first.