Recently I was received mail and found there the blue sky thinking phrase as an agenda for the next company team meeting.
Quick googling does not bring any appropriate results.
What does the blue sky thinking mean?
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6-1 because you haven't provided enough information about the context the phrase was used in. Even if it was used in its expected context, as Hackworth pointed out, the answer from Wiktionary is the top answer in Google. If the wiktionary answer isn't the right one, give us more information about how the phrase was used in your email.– Andy FCommented Nov 23, 2011 at 10:31
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4 Answers
Blue sky thinking is business jargon for a sort of brainstorming or analysis that is uninhibited by the cruft and complexity of tedious and confusing reality. It is supposed to be optimistic, non-judgmental and intended to generate ideas that while not necessarily realistic might help define ideal goals or higher standards.
It's a ghastly cliche whose meaning is opaque.
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Know this is an old Q, but still want to note: this is almost certainly the correct answer. Business jargon is its own 'ghastly beast,' and I find it changing all the time. It was likely extremely vaguely and opaquely used in OP's email -- I can imagine what OP wrote as the only element in a bullet list.– CompEconCommented Sep 29, 2014 at 19:47
This is the google top link for "blue sky thinking", with or without quotes.
- thinking that is not grounded or in touch in the realities of the present.
What's not appropriate about this result?
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1@hazzik: then I find it difficult to see how we can help you. Commented Nov 23, 2011 at 11:02
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1@Hazzik, perhaps you could redact certain phrases? I can't imagine any other context in which blue sky thinking might be used where it wouldn't mean what the wiktionary link says it does. I suspect whoever used it is using it incorrectly, but without context we can't tell you what they actually mean!– Andy FCommented Nov 23, 2011 at 11:03
I was an adman at a New York-based ad agency, called McCann Erickson, where I worked more than 30 years, until 1995.
We used to use the word, "blue sky thinking" very often at that time, in the meaning of "free and original way of thinking" without ceiling - restraint by anybody else at an occasion such as "brain-storming" working sessions. We used it in a productive and pro-active sense as against whimsical, irresponsible idea generation. It could have been an advertising jargon, or a kind of sociolect, and I'm not sure whether it still applies. But we used this word in this sense for certain.
answered Jun 18, 2018 at 0:54
Usually the absolute ideal scenario. When planning a project you would generally make a note of your current state - how things are at present. You would then note down your absolute perfect state or 'blue sky' scenario where everything works perfectly i.e. automation, processes followed to the letter every time, fast and efficient software, and your realistic project outcome will probably land somewhere between the two.
It allows you to make sure you're on the right trajectory. You know what you're working toward, even if it's unattainable or unrealistic right now
