How to Design and Build Hope

October 7^th was undoubtedly the hardest day Israel had ever known. Loss, grief and fear of a future unknown had hit highest levels. But then, stepping out of shock and fear, we made something happen: hundreds of thousands of people stepped up. They went crop picking in the Gaza Envelope, collected equipment for evacuees, cooked for IDF soldiers. There was suddenly a sense that things might be ok, after all. That these good people – our people, ourselves – wil prevail and even right some wrongs. These actions created hope.

This is not coincidential. Hope, as we perceive it, isn’t just passively waiting for something to happen. Hope is active. If you just sit around and wait for things to come to you, not only will they not come, they’re not even going to call and let you know that you are waiting for nothing. It’s like waiting for the messiah.

When Chabad speak about the messiah, they call it “preparing for his arrival” – unlike waiting, preparing is active. In the famous Israeli song, “A Song for Peace”, there is a line that goes, “Don’t say someday – make that day today”. This supports the perspective of hope as an active choice. After all, the light at the end of the tunnel is an optimistic sight only if we can walk towards it.

On October 2015, Jürgen Klopp stepped in as Liverpool’s coach, a football club way past its heyday, losing championship for the past 30 years. Klopp’s 9 year run as coach not only shot Liverpool back to fame and fortune, but also impacted deeply on what audience, players and other club members, shifting them, as he put – “From doubters to believers”. Klopp said it in his first press conference and with this, set a new club motto and defined his important time there.

Building Blocks of Hope

Looking at Klopp’s grand impact on Liverpool, we can uncover the cornerstones of hope:

It begins with optimism. Klopp spoke about the desired place for Liverpool in his first press conference. Optimism has to go hand in hand with honesty. Klopp didn’t promise winning the championship in a year, nor two. He did speak of the challenges competing against giants, and set his championship goal 4 years ahead. Honestly is crucial – it makes a world of difference between empty overpromising, to setting realistic goals, difficult and challenging as they may be. Honesty creates credibility, which evokes trust in the process.

The third cornerstone is passion. Klopp defined himself as a heavy metal kind of guy, and if anyone who’s ever seen him rocking on the sidelines, pushing players to do better, gets it immediately. Passion boosts energy and harneses people even to the most difficult processes.

The fourth cornerstone, is empowerment. When he signed his contract with Liverpool, Klopp was already known as one of the two best football coaches in the world. He could have asked for any amount of money, and he would have gotten it, too – but he didn’t ask for more than he had already made: he did ask for 2 million pounds to be divided between his team of coaches, and demanded for them to appear in every official club photoshoot. This is how you empower others: you make them partners, because there is not hope in going it alone.

These cornerstones can build hope in different ways, not without a fifth, very important aspect: creativity. Klopp’s creativity shines through coaching, method and connections with the audience, palyres and press.

According to Snyder’s Hope Theory, hope is a survival mechanism that a person (or an organization) cannot prosper without. The hope Klopp had brought to Liverpool not only earned the club 8 big wins in 9 years, including a historical championship after a 30 year drought, and winning the championship league – it also boosted club value from 1.2 to 3.9 billion pounds.

Klopp wasn’t the only one building hope from these cornerstones.

Winston Churchill revived hope for the Brits during humanity’s most turbulent time, when German forces tore Europe apart during WWII. Three epic speeches demonstrate his creativity:

“Blood, toil, tears and sweat” – this was his post-election speech, and just like it says on the tin: Churchill spoke about the immense challenges Britain was about to face, and the predicted victory.

“We shall fight on the beaches” – a speech given two weeks after the aforementioned, while an actual threat from a German invasion. Churchill swept the crowds, promising tireless battles until victory.

Two weeks later Churcill gives “Their finest hour” speech, to crowds demanding peace with Germany. The speech ends with the words, “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'” This sums the hope Churchill had brought to the British people. He was very sincere and did not sugarcoat expected strife, but always conveyd faith in future victory. His speeches were full of passion, harnessing people, encouraging them to play their historic role.

In Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the places you’ll go!”, he empowers readers and takes them to an upbeat, passionate journey, in a rollercoaster of optimism and challenges. Materfully expressed with text and visual, the result is one of the most hopefull books ever written.

In conclusion, the four cornerstones of hope are:

Honesty
Optimism
Passion
Empowerment:

Takes these cornerstones, add creativity and build real hope for your people, organizations, and our society.