As I was writing Joe and Jim aka Pine & Gilmore a couple of weeks ago the master-thesis I wrote last year is in danish – unlike the Shakespeare-play about Hamlet which takes place in Elsinore in Denmark in which there is a famous quote concerning authenticity which both P&G as well as a bunch of others seem to use as did I in my thesis last year:
“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it doth follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man”
Hamlet, Polonius
Depending on the version of the play Polonius is portrayed deceitful or sinister making the quote so much more interesting. His words are about the relation to one self and the natural consequence of being true to yourself is truth towards others. It’s one of the interesting claims of authenticity: If you’re authentic you are consequently also trustworthy as you’ll be guided by your convictions or beleifs rather than by reflections of others.
Pine & Gilmore are known for their book on Experience Economy and next month they have a new book on the streets, “Authenticity”. It’s about how companies can render authenticity in the experiences and products they deliver. Very interesting and seems to have some links in the understanding of authenticity that continues David Boyles’ work. In this perspective authenticity is the uppersid of fake and authenticity is the highest degree of realness. As I work with authenticity and organizational identities I see it a bit different. I’ll write more on that later on!
To make the writing of my first book as painless as possible I am writing it in danish. And primarily with danish examples and in a Scandinavian context. And during the next months I’ll try to blog about some of my ideas and questions, hoping I can get help and inspiration from some of you. So I’ve decided together with Anne and Marta that some of my blog-posts will be in danish as it can sometimes be easier after writing a paragraph for the book. That way I don’t have to translate all the time.
So expect a mix of danish and english here and my apologies to my american, italian and british friends who will not be able of reading it all. I promise I’ll do an international version straight after the danish one!
PS: No, I don’t think it’s more authentic for me to write in danish – but it’s faster if I want to rewrite or even copy something for the purpose of blogging what I am working on…
