Can I show you my hallucination?

At some point I read a quote - by some people attributed to Thomas Edison, while other people doubt it - and I admit, it might be stated in a fashion more contemporary than what Edison might have done it.
But still, it is a good quote, so I want to share it anyway:

Vision without execution is hallucination

Actually Edison - or whoever is responsible - has a point. All our grandiose ideas are worth nothing, if they are not realised. But still, I do not think that we should abandon all hope, just because we cannot execute our visions on our own.
That's where our networks become handy - and where we should be demanding towards ourselves. Because: if I have a vision so exceptional that I realise that I will never ever execute it myself, then I cannot help but think that I have a responsibility to consider, whether I know anyone present it to - even if to me, it is a hallucination, it might be that they know how to execute it. The quote does not demand that all parts of the process must be carried out by the same individual.
And every time we doubt whether our visions can be executed, we can consider another quote (which is generally agreed to be by William Blake):

What is now proved was once only imagined.

(Translated from Må jeg vise dig min hallucination?, originally published December 5th, 2011)

Perfect Strangers

If you are struggling to come up with ideas for what to do next time you assemble a networking group, I would like to put forward an idea that I have been toying around with: what if the individual participants were given the assignment: Everyone will a companion, preferably of the innovative kind, who must not know (or be known to) anyone else in the original group of people. This gives you the opportunity to add new perspectives to the topics you are occupied by, and provide fresh air to the network.
 As far as I can see, the idea could be used in several contexts where you may be interested in breaking up old habits and bringing innovation into a more or less established group. If someone out there tries it out, I would be delighted to hear about your experience.
(Translated from Perfect Strangers, originally published May 31st, 2016)

Networking and mirroring

Over the years, I have been so fortunate that I have built a network  and surrounded myself with some excellent people who sometimes pay me compliments that I have a hard time listening to without blushing - because I actually think I'm told such nice things that I'm having trouble recognizing myself in the words.
But there is one thing that is really important to remember when it comes to networking and its effect: you reap as you sow. If you experience something good from my side, it's mainly because I have an excellent network. The good I can do, I am able to do because I'm inspired to do it by an excellent network.
So when the compliments sometimes are a little too much for me to fully recognize myself in them, I am pleased that they are basically compliments that I can just as well reflect onto the people who inspires me to whatever good I am able to do.
(Translated from Netværk og spejleffekt)

Islands in the archipelago of mankind

It happens that I get past text I've written years back and want to modify a little bit in the details of the metaphors and thoughts that the text expresses. Thus the following is inspired by a text that is almost eight years old - so maybe it's about time to refresh it a bit.
I have - as it may be known - a fondness for John Donne's words from his Reflection XVII from 1624, with the familiar introduction:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...

I think John Donne was absolutely right at that time - people of the 17th century were completely aware that they were dependent on each other. But, if we are to stay with the metaphor, the waters came flooding in over humanity and transformed us into an archipelago where we can be tempted to believe that we are islands, even though we are connected just below the surface. But the archipelago is in any case so densely covered with islands that we can easily see from coast to coast and make bridges to neighbouring isles. With today's technology, we can even see the distant islands and communicate with them far easier than you could communicate with most places on the continent of humanity in Donne's time.
The problem is however that we can just as easily retreat to the middle of our islands, turn our backs towards the coast and gaze into the ground as we let the hair grow long and our vocabulary degenerate into inarticulate grunts and murmur. But it's our duty to do the opposite: instead, we must go down to the coast; follow it around our islands; make it clear to ourselves how close the surrounding islands are to us and consider how we overcome the distance going there. And it's not a particularly unpleasant duty - it's not even difficult if we just decide to make the small effort it takes.
(Translated from Øer i menneskehedens øhav, originally published October 16th, 2017)