Two light-skinned women with dark hair wearing headphones with microphones in front of them on boom arms. Both are smiling and looking at the camera.

People can’t believe in ideas they can’t see

ByBecky McCray

When Rebecca Undem interviewed me, she shared a story that helps explain why some people just don’t seem to get excited by your idea.

Rebecca bought and rehabbed an old building in Oakes, North Dakota, (population 1800) to support and develop more local businesses with coworking, an event venue, conference space, training space and a lot more. It kind of defies a one-word description. She calls it Growing Small Towns.

This was not an easy project. It was a long, expensive and difficult process. Some people supported her, and some people didn’t.

When the building was finally finished and the doors were open, one person said to Rebecca, “I wanted to believe in you, but I just couldn’t see it.”

I get it. It’s hard to imagine something new, especially if your experience casts doubt on whether it might ultimately work.

Rebecca came up with the idea of taking people to tour a building in another town or city that was something like she was trying to create. Yes! She could also do a pop-up business expo or event on an empty lot nearby to help people visualize supporting more local businesses. It’s a tiny and temporary version of her big idea.

By gathering your crowd, your idea becomes a movement that people can get behind. With lots of people doing small but meaningful parts of the project, those contributions add up.

This is why we take small steps in public, creating experiences for people to get a better sense of the idea.

Here are some ways you could make a housing project easier to visualize.

  • Load people in a van to drive by and look at every house in town, so they’ll get a better understanding than maps and charts. JaNae Barnard did this in Major County, Oklahoma.
  • Invite people to an empty lot for a ribbon cutting or first shovel ceremony, but bring a pile of kids toys to put in the yard so people can see that kids will play here. Or stake the outline of the proposed house, then furnish it with a few things like a kitchen table. Kathryn Witherington from Walla Walla, Washington, came up with that idea.
  • Set up a booth at a festival or event, but instead of a table and brochures and boring stuff like that, set up a kids’ play house to show some aspect of your project.

Help people see your idea so they can believe in you.

Have you done something like this for an idea before? Share that story with me!