Some of my earliest childhood memories are of the Apollo missions that dominated the 1960’s and early ‘70’s. Kennedy had thrown down the gauntlet; America was to land the first man on the moon and my imagination was stirred by the dangerous but inspiring adventures playing out in front of me on our small black and white TV. Men of vast courage were quite literally blasting off into the deep unknown of space. The highlight of these space explorations came in 1969 and is seared into our collective memories with Neil Armstrong’s famous words “… that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” uttered as he finally stepped down onto the moon’s surface.

As a young child I had no awareness of what all this might mean; the political implications for the Cold War, the technological implications for computers, medicine, materials and much more. I certainly had no insight into the philosophical and spiritual implications of these missions. But now, looking back to these events from the second decade of the twenty first century, I can see just how significant it all was. The audacity of Kennedy, the brilliance of the scientists and the courage and excellence of the astronauts.

Arguably however, the most significant implication for mankind from these missions was captured in a single photo taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission the previous year. A devastatingly moving shot of the earth rising from the vantage of the moon. Almost all the astronauts from these Apollo missions have reported a major change in their view of life and our planet in the light of this new ‘world view’; experiencing some form of spiritual or philosophical transformation having literally looked back on our earth. They were transfixed by its beauty, vulnerability and unquestionable interdependence. This shared ‘out of earth’ experience has dominated the lives of these brave men, who, made of ‘explorers stuff’, were not known for their sentimentality. Their bravery took them to a place where they could quite literally ‘see things differently’. Not only did it change the way they led their lives, but in turn by sharing this experience with us, it changed the way we all see the earth, and has probably been the single biggest factor in driving forward today’s environmental agenda. Our planet is special, deeply interconnected and hugely vulnerable and we all now know it.

This ability to see things differently is a powerful skill, giving us the potential for major break throughs in some of the biggest challenges that we face as individuals, teams, organisations and ultimately nations. I have set up Blue Giraffe Vision, a small Consultancy organisation, with the possibly audacious purpose of supporting people and organisations to take a look at some of their challenges from another perspective. All this in the belief that #SeeingThingsDifferently has the potential to release vital innovations and ultimately, the hoped for positive impact and outcomes we are seeking in our work places.

I’m keen to give it a go because I believe it will work in today’s very complex world, and my hope is that others will want to join me on this adventure!

Lucy Hurst-Brown