"If not now, when?"

As I read that question restated in Richard Bandler's Guide to Trance-Formation it made me stop. Sure, I've heard that statement before, but for some reason as I scanned across the words this time they jumped out at me. They seemed to sum-up much of the thinking that has been running through my brain over the past months, or maybe years.

Those who know me know that I have spent many years working with people trying to cope with changes taking place in their lives. For the past twenty years, that work has primarily been with educators and business people who are trying to understand and adapt to the changes taking place because of the cultural issues surrounding the pace of technology growth, the flattened world and the reality of "game-thought" in our learners, employees and others. During this time, I have led national and international educational programs, worked with businesses around the world, and have earned my PhD through my research in the use of virtual worlds as platforms for cultural change.

Through all of this, I've had lots of ideas of things I "ought to do", or "ought to write", or "ought to create". But while those thoughts emerged, I found myself not acting on them. It wasn't because of fear, or lack of conviction, but from something very real in this new culture. I was spending all of my time learning new "stuff", trying to keep up with the changes taking place...observing and reporting on what was happening rather than putting my experience and expertise to work and "doing", "writing" and "creating". I'll do that someday.

"If now now, when?"

As I saw those words, my synapses sparked and create a new connection in there somewhere. As the idea grew, it gave itself a name: The Year of Possibilities. It began to haunt my unconscious and finally my conscious thoughts with the question: "What might happen if you spent a year and really just saw what you could do, write and create?"

As I thought back over the past year, I was rather surprised by the amount of time I had spent responding to the same questions we have been answering for a very long time. "Is distance learning as good?" "Can games be used for education?" "Are virtual worlds on the way out?" The list was frighteningly long. We have responded to these questions over and over, yet they continue to be asked...which seems to mean we really haven't answered them.

In the past month, I have read more than three dozen blogs from educational and business leaders predicting the tragic end of something or other, or telling me what was wrong with yet another currently popular technology or practice. It has become very easy to criticize and negate things, and apparently it is also a very popular thing to do. But it is much more difficult to create things...rather than observing and critiquing something from the balcony, getting down on the floor and realizing something that did not exist before. I've grown weary of sitting in the audience.

I have ideas. They come from years of working with outstanding people in education, in professional game design, in corporate training, in technology, in virtual worlds, in brain research and psychology. I've decided that it is time to see if these mashed-up ideas really have anything to them. So I am announcing 2010 as the ImagiLearning "Year of Possibilities!"

There are some basic ground rules. Rule one is that I'm not spending time worrying about the nay-sayers this year. If people want to keep asking those same old questions over and over, that's fine...I feel no responsibility to respond again. Yes, distance learning works. Yes, using game concepts can be amazing learning experiences, and I don't know if virtual worlds are on the way out. I just know that they are powerful learning platforms for today. Those questions have been answered. Move on.

Rule two is that I'm not interested in spending a lot of time with drama or negativism. The focus is on possibilities, not fears. No, we will not be stupid and ignore real risks, but hey...its time to move forward.

Rule three is that we will produce. We will create an energy that fuels us, and work with partners who share our vision to create a synergy that will carry us beyond what we could do individually. There are no silos, just a shared vision for uncovering possibilities.

Rule four is...there is no rule number four. Only three rules. Very simple. No more worrying about the past, no more drama or negativism, and partnering to create new possibilities. That's it...The Year of Possibilities.

I've spent the past week updating my dream list, and now it is time to jump in with both feet and go to work. I'll use our website and this blog to let you know how it's going. If you share the vision, and are interested in getting down to work as well, drop me a note. It is going to be a year filled with revisioning learning, training, games, virtual worlds, business...many things. It is a Year of Possibilities!