Another way of expanding reach that works well in conjunction with stakeholder analysis is exercising the moral imagination to break out of a mind-set, strip off the blinders, weigh the anchor. In the discussion of decision-making models, we note that decision makers first categorize a situation and then adopt rules for making choices that fit the selected category. To use your moral imagination means to change the “mental model” context and devise another perspective to creatively re- solve a dilemma or break an impasse.
Consider the training exercise. Finding a solution depends on going outside the unreal boundaries we ourselves superimpose on the problem. In fact, there is no square, and we can solve the problem only by breaking out of the self-imposed analytic limits. Similarly, it has been argued in a business context that most managers are moral and public-spirited, but missing the developed moral imagination needed to change their mind-set.