Early this morning I followed the arrival of Solar Impulse in Seville, Spain after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It's an incredible achievement of not only two pioneers (Bertrand Piccard & Andre Borschberg), but a whole crew with pioneering spirit that supports the project. Over the past couple years, from when they started building their first aircraft to their flight around the world with their second one now, those guys inspired hundreds of thousands of people and showed the world what clean energy is capable of.

As I sit in my office in Nairobi now, working on details for a "Lease-to-own"-model to bring solar powered irrigation systems to smallholder farmers in Kenya, the contrast couldn't be more accentuated. I feel inspired by what the Solar Impulse team has achieved and share their vision of a clean future. And while that inspiration is fuelling my efforts and motivation, making it happen on the ground requires me taking one step at a time now. What do the company's customers here need? How can the company help them be better farmers? What needs to happen for this to be a sustainable business? Many questions to be answered and even more details to be defined.

It is a shift of mindset to some extent, from big picture, blue sky thinking into tactical execution. Something that I am sure the Solar Impulse team went through as well when they actually built their plane and grew the team to be ready for the mission. It can be tedious to watch your project only moving slowly towards a vision, but it is the only way to success. Without people taking the small steps in the right direction and working on the execution, no vision will ever be achieved.

Inspired by the achievements and dedication of Solar Impulse, the world needs people moving a step towards clean energy on their own today! And then another step tomorrow …

I still wonder, what's the best way to switch between those mindsets that require you to go about things so differently?