The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

This week I am writing from the red sands of the Sahel.

Coming to this part of Africa is like traveling to distant times where life was about sustenance and survival, with no advanced technology to govern our existence. It brings out what I take for granted in everyday life, reminding me again of the framed existence of my Western mind.

In order to conceive of anything that is truly new, we need the courage to go beyond our realities framed by technology, culture and experience and move up to a level where there is freedom to ask a simple question: if nothing existed, how then would we like things to be?

Vision pioneering is about starting from the invisible where there is freedom to envision the qualities we are looking for. It is with such clarity that we can use our knowledge and potential to achieve something that will enrich our existence.

by Miriam Garvi

Earlier this week I was in Norway doing research for a book project I’ve been working on. Among the people I met was an elderly couple who had spent most of their working lives pioneering hospital care in the mountain areas of Taiwan.

They told me the story of how what is today a modern teaching hospital started with one man who took it upon himself to set up a small ‘treatment center’ of bamboo huts even though he had no other resources than his own drive and determination to do what was needed.

Today taking a professional stance often translates into arm’s length involvement. But then we forget something fundamental: one person’s dedication may be all it takes to set something in motion that can have a strong impact once it comes to fruition.

by Miriam Garvi

The other day I was walking around among the glass skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

In business ideals of competition and growth have been put on a pedestal. Markets are redefined so we can claim to be the best or the biggest at something - but what that something is is of little importance as long as we can claim the position. We take great pains to belong to the beautiful people, that exclusive crowd of world citizens who can walk through life in luxurious air-conditioned gallerias with marble flooring where the daily pains of the unfortunate are far from sight. Great image, but what’s our contribution to the world?

Some fifty years ago, venture capital pioneer Georges F. Doriot raised a challenge as he was teaching future business leaders at the Harvard Business School: “Do we want to build or merely enjoy what others ahead of us have made possible? Really, how can one enjoy anything if one is not building for the future of others? Remember that our happiness is in direct proportion to the contributions we make.”

In the era of image, we seem to have forgotten all about legacy - forgotten about the strong imprint that is made when somebody is dedicated to making a difference even when there is no instant pay-off in sight. Such pioneering initiatives inspire us to find our own way of making an enriching contribution.

Image is exclusive and lies in the eyes of the beholder. Legacy is a challenge for each and every one of us and it is there for the taking.