I can see what I want to build. The harder question is whether I can make it useful to someone else.

That is the tension behind my work: sharing what I have experienced and learned in a way that enables people to take their next step. A clear intention is a beginning. It is not evidence of impact.

I remember my time as a team leader and field commander of an international personal security team very well. It always sounds so impressive when I start talking about it, but it’s the truth, and to be honest, I’m very proud of that time, even though it might not be immediately clear what I’m trying to say. So let me elaborate a bit more.
I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was summer, and I was lying in the cool grassy meadow in front of our farm. I looked up at the sky and knew that this was where I belonged. I saw images in my mind’s eye—not because I was allowed to watch movies back then; no, certainly not. I saw the birds, dragonflies, and insects, and I was fascinated by their flying skills. I felt something that later inspired me to do more than just dream; six years later, I wanted to make my dream of becoming a pilot a reality—a dream that, as a little boy, let me imagine what it would be like to fly. It got to the point where I was called a daydreamer, a castle-in-the-air builder, and so on. But I had my imagination, and that took me far.

I didn’t end up becoming a pilot, but even back then I sensed that I could trust my inner instincts very strongly.

Four words that deserve more care

Hallucination, illusion, vision, and daydreaming are not interchangeable.

Human hallucinations involve perception without a corresponding external stimulus. They are not another name for ambition or creativity. In technology, “hallucination” is used differently, to describe generated output that is false or unsupported. Neither should be treated as a reliable account of reality.

In this article, I use “illusion” in its everyday sense: mistaking what I hope is true for what has been demonstrated. I am not using it as a clinical diagnosis or a definition of perceptual illusion.

A daydream gives me space to imagine a possibility. A vision is the future I choose to work toward. Those are useful distinctions for my work, not a scientific ranking of human thought.

What has helped humanity most?

I would not claim that one of these categories can be credited with the most progress. My own position is simpler: imagination becomes valuable when we are willing to test it, learn from others, and turn it into something useful.

An idea can be inspiring and still need revision. An experiment can fail and still teach us something. A confident explanation can sound convincing and still be wrong.

Later, I used this imagination—combined with the training I received in the military—to assess situations, dangers, and information from criminals, so I could recognize the risks and protect myself. That has served me well, because I’m still alive. Others from back then are no longer with us, or are no longer as physically unharmed.

The discipline I bring from risk and compliance

From my risk and compliance perspective, I want to keep three things visible: what we know, what we assume, and what we still need to test.

That discipline belongs beside imagination. Before committing resources, I can ask what would change my mind, what the consequences of being wrong would be, and how to test the idea on a smaller scale.

Above all, I’ve learned that when I make a decision based on my vision—even after conducting a very thorough investigation and analysis—I should ask other people what they think, not take it as personal criticism, but rather critically incorporate or consider their advice, opinions, and experiences. While this may seem counterintuitive, it makes the project and the product more successful. The same goes for personal development: It’s important to seek out other opinions, but we shouldn’t ignore ourselves as individuals or the individuality of a vision, idea, or anything else. With a machine, it’s easier because we know and understand the coding and programming involved.
“What’s next.” That’s what they need. Too little context, too little governance, compliance not taken into account, or risks not recognized, underestimated, or even ignored—and then something begins that is described as a hallucination or, in human terms, madness. Everything has its reason for being.

My own vision is still work in progress

I want to create conversations and learning experiences that enable people. I want to bring my experience together with perspectives from my network, including questions about the present and the future.

The challenge is making that value visible. A post, a conversation, or a learning session has to offer more than my enthusiasm for the subject. Someone should be able to use what I share.

Building bridges between dreams, visions, speculation and correctness. Creating references is similar to the way science proves facts. But there is much more to it than what we cannot or want to see. To enables us to the unconscious.

For me, “enable” is a practical test: does this help someone understand, decide, or do something they could not do as clearly before?

One idea, one small test, one lesson

Here is an exercise I can apply to my own work and offer to you.

1. Name one person or group your idea could help and one concrete problem they face.
2. Choose a small, reversible test. For example, explain one useful method to one person and ask them to try it.
3. Observe what happens. What could they use? What confused them? What should change?

That exercise does not guarantee success. It gives the next decision a better foundation.

My goal is to make the conscious and the unconscious more transparent to me, so that I no longer question my visions, images, and ideas too critically, but rather use science and testing methods to prove that, when it comes to knowledge—whether old or new—it is not merely a product of hallucination, but always contains an element of truth.

I want to keep the imagination that lets me see possibilities and the humility that lets me change course. That is the kind of progress I want my work to enable.

What is one idea you would put to a small, real-world test?