“Vision without execution is a hallucination” is a saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is unknown, but the saying became popular in the 1990s and credits to American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) and German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) are incorrect. “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare” is a related saying that became popular in the early 1990s.
 
“‘Vision without implementation is hallucination’, Anon” was published in Counterpoint magazine in 1995. “Vision without execution is a dream” was said in April 1995 by Will Kenlaw, Business Unit Executive with IBM Sales Force Transformation. “‘Vision without execution is hallucination; execution without vision is suicidal’—Guy Kawasaki, CEO of garage.com and author of Rules for Revolutionaries” was published in a March 2000 newspaper.
       
     
Google Books 
Counterpoint
Volumes 2-3 - Page 22
1995
Pg. 22:
‘Vision without implementation is hallucination’, Anon.
 
April 1995, Sales and Marketing Management (New York, NY), “Reengineering: Is there a doctor in the house?,” pg. S17:
“The visionary knows the business results he or she wants but that information is often not understood by the implementors,” says Kenlaw. “Not only is the project doomed, but there is anger and frustration. Remember, vision without execution is a dream.”
(Will Kenlaw, Business Unit Executive with IBM Sales Force Transformation.—ed.)
 
15 March 2000, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), pg. A11, right masthead:
“Vision without execution is hallucination; execution without vision is suicidal.”
—Guy Kawasaki, CEO of garage.com and author of Rules for Revolutionaries
       
Google Books
The Mind Of The CEO
By Jeffrey E. Garten
New York, NY: Basic Books
2001
Pg. 133:
A Vision Without Execution Is an Hallucination
   
Amazon.com
Mike Tarrani
June 14, 2001
Format: Paperback
It seems like everyone wants to be a visionary these days, especially in the high tech sector where I make my living. The problem is that a vision without execution is a hallucination, and there are a lot of hallucinations from what I see. This book is a grounded and straightforward guide to crafting an organization based on realities.
 
Smart Business
Notes ’n’ Quotes
By: No Author | 1:45pm EDT July 22, 2002
(...)
How’s your eyesight?
“Vision without execution is hallucination. Execution without vision is suicidal.” — Iacobucci
 
Google Books
The Public Manager
Volume 31      
2002
Pg. 15:
As we answer these key questions and reflect on lessons learned, government’s leaders would do well to remember a point made by America Online founder Steve Case: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”
     
Google Books
Leaders
Volume 26
2003
Pg. 2:
Albert Einstein keenly observed that “vision without execution ts a hallucination.”
 
15 July 2005, Central Penn Business Journal (Harrisburg, PA), “Point, click, thrive” by Susan Gvozdas, pg. 1:
In 2002, Josh Gray and J. Alex Hartzler invested everything they had to buy Webclients.net, an online advertising and marketing company Webclients’ revenue was $9.2 million.
(...)
Hartzler repeats one of Gray’s maxims with pride: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”
 
8 August 2005, Fortune (New York, NY), “Mark Hurd takes his first swing at HP” by Adam Lashinsky, pg. 24:
Remember Edison’s quote: “Vision without execution is a hallucination.”
     
Google Groups Filmz
PROJECTS WANTED
Jamaica Filmz
10/20/05
(...)
” Vision without execution is hallucination. He who dares…Wins! “
John Chambers
 
5 May 2007, Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), “After the Revolt, Creating a New CEO; A trio of new leaders is quietly redefining the top job; A lower profile, a shorter leash” by Alan Murray, pg. A1:
Mark Hurd, who followed Carly Fiorina as chief executive of Hewlett- Packard Co., avoids talking—as she famously did before her ouster—about a vision for the high-tech giant. “I’m not a big vision guy,” he says. “I think it was Einstein who said vision without execution is a hallucination.”
       
October 2008, Research (New York, NY), “Vision and Execution” by Patricia J. Abram, pg. ?:
Albert Einstein once famously said, “Vision without execution is hallucination.” It’s equally true, however, that “Execution without vision is chaos.”
 
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Marty Glover
@MartyGlover
RT @Padmasree: vision without execution is just a dream MG: Execution without vision is a nightmare
10:23 AM - 27 May 2009
     
Twitter
Gadget Ku
@id_gadgetku
“A vision without execution is a nightmare and a hallucination.”—- Steve Case
2:14 AM - 5 May 2010
   
Twitter
Janet Twitchell
@Janet_Twitchell
Vision without Execution is a Daydream, Execution without a Vision is a Nightmare—japanese proverb
2:19 AM - 3 Jun 2010
 
Wikiquote: Talk:Thomas Edison
The earliest that I find a similar phrase is Chapter 5 (“A Vision Without Execution Is an Hallucination”) of Jeffrey E. Garten’s 2001 book The Mind of the CEO. He quotes Stephen Case, then Chairman & CEO of America Online, as saying, “In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably an hallucination.”
The phrase starts getting credited to Edison around 2006. I don’t find any credible evidence that Edison ever used the phrase, with either “vision” or “ideas”.
—KHirsch 14:20, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
 
Google Books
Your Writing Coach:
From Concept to Character, from Pitch to Publication
By Jurgen Wolff
Clerkenwell, London, UK: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
2012
Pg. ?:
Vision without execution is a hallucination.” —Thomas Edison
 
Reddit—Quotes
“Vision without execution is a hallucination.”—Einstein (self.quotes)
submitted January 21, 2012 by expertvoice
COMMENTS
dwerds
“Vision without execution is a hallucination.” -Thomas Edison. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” -Albert Einstein.
   
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Guy Kawasaki
February 24, 2014 ·
“Vision without execution is hallucination.”
― Thomas Edison
 
Forbes.com
JUL 22, 2014 @ 11:17 AM
Vision Without Execution Is Just Hallucination
Bryan Stolle , CONTRIBUTOR
The title of this blog post is actually the favorite saying of serial entrepreneur, Steve Adams (thanks, Steve), and one of his heroes, Thomas Edison .
 
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Daniel Mangena
@dmpotb
“A vision without execution is a hallucination” Anon #quote #TuesdayMotivation
4:53 AM - 29 May 2018