Moral Imagination

This has been one of those concepts that took me awhile to figure out how and in what environment to use it. It ties in a bit to my previous post where I explore my difficulties in being able to see something from another's point of view. After plenty of contemplation, I see moral imagination as an ethical leadership skill where the leader recognizes a compelling need to see the situation from a new perspective.  One fabulous example is:

Do we control them or do they control us?

 
 In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan's documentary opens with, "They are four of the most common plants we know. We've always thought that we control them. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us." As the viewer absorbs this startling exploratory question, Pollan admits he had a failure of imagination when he believed that as a gardener planting potatoes that he was in charge of the situation. As he explains his thought process more, the beauty of his theory comes to light. In fact he uses moral imagination successfully when he says, "These plants are mirrors in which we can see ourselves in a slightly different way."

Watch Full-Length Program on PBS. See more from Botany of Desire.

  

Now that I understand moral imagination a bit better I find myself even more curious where another person is coming from. I still don't care for the hot emotions that can come with strong opinions, and when they come I tend to not respond to them in a way that feeds the fire. Yet, as I hold up the mirror and see the gaps in my situational awareness I feel a direct correlation to the increase of my creativity and imagination. What is the greatest discovery in all of this? Once the moral imagination puzzle piece clicks nicely into my incomplete leadership puzzle, I see a greater perspective with added confidence that I will be able to complete the puzzle.