Collaboration and the proliferation of ideas

I’m in New York this week presenting at a conference and developing new ideas. I love these events: a chance to share thoughts, forcing me to create narratives that weave through the many different stories and ideas i get to play with on a daily basis. If the blog is my first iteration of thinking and the books are the third, events like this, engaged with my communities and clients are the crucial second stage, the time that i form the narratives and work out which ones stand up to scrutiny.

They are also a chance to cross pollinate my own ideas with those of others: this week has bought face to face meetings with many people who i’ve previously only known online. It’s a chance to put faces to names and to carry on the conversations, co-creating a shared narrative.

Ideas take time to gestate, they pass through many iterations: discussion, challenge and debate in the online spaces is important, but the chance to build on that in person is valuable too. All in all, a great week so far.