Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Vision

By Cam Bishop, CEO

“I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

This is a quote attributed to Michelangelo. For some reason, it was only quite recently that I ran across it in something I was reading. Unfortunately, I can’t say where I read it. I find that I read so much these days and in so many different media — print (yes, I still read a ton of print!); computer-based web or email; tablet-based web, email or app; or smartphone-based web, app, email or text. Then, did it come from a news feed, LinkedIn or Facebook? Who knows — I am just happy to remember the information with some semblance of knowing that it came from a credible source.

But, I digress. I was stopped in my tracks by the Michelangelo quote above. Because of the impression this statement made on me, I did a little quick research. He also is attributed with saying, “In every block of marble, I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

Michelangelo’s philosophy here impresses me on both a personal and business level. On a personal level, I am a bit of a painter. Acrylics on canvas only — no formal training and all abstracts. I don’t claim to be good or even mediocre, but I do enjoy it. It’s something that I discovered just a few years ago. The thing is, with his quote, I discovered that I do at least one thing the same way he did it. I feel like now there is hope for me. I have found that I actually have to complete the painting in my head before I ever put paint on canvas. Sadly, I’ve been working on a painting in my head now for at least a year. That’s not the point, however. The point is: It’s all about the vision thing. You can’t start without a vision of where you are headed.

Thus, the relevance to business. Here at Ascend Integrated Media, we have two visions. One for our business — the direction we are headed and the goals we want to achieve. And one for each of our many valued clients.

For our company, our vision is to continue to build a creative custom-media agency that provides thoroughly integrated and highly creative work that helps our clients solve problems and achieve their goals. The great thing here is that this really is a lifelong or at least career-long journey and, so far, it’s been successful and very cool.

For our clients, we begin our solution-based conversations by gaining an understanding of their vision and, in many cases, helping them to formulate and formalize that vision when it has not already been clearly developed and documented. This helps us to establish a vision for the tools, techniques and content solutions we will create to fulfill that vision. Understanding vision helps our creative team deliver optimum creativity, which has been totally validated by the 28 national and international media awards they’ve been recognized with in just the last year or so.

We love and find great satisfaction in the win/win scenario of executing the “vision thing” on multiple levels and turning that block of marble into an effective print/digital/mobile integrated media solution.

How has having a vision helped you achieve your goals?