Redesigning our thinking

hello from berlin

or good afternoon good morning or good

evening

depending on where in the world you are

right now first of all i would like to

say thank you

for being here with me right now because

it really feels good

to know that i’m not alone especially in

times like this

my name is birgit and i will be talking

about redesigning

our thinking in context of

uncertainty and how to embrace it

i will also share a few key learnings

with you

and now that we’re so close basically

just one click apart

i will also share a little bit about

myself

and how i experience uncertainty and the

role it plays in my life

the picture you can see here this

beautiful

black and white picture showing my

mother and me striking a pose something

my grandmother tried to get out of my

system

for many years without any success

was taken in the former gdr

i was around two to three years old i

don’t really know to be totally honest

what i do know is that at that time

socks and stockings were bought three

sizes bigger

to make sure that we could wear them for

multiple seasons or even pass them on

it looks like that time everything was

still okay

little did i know that 12 years later

uncertainty took over

my mother was diagnosed with cancer

and we as a family we had no idea how to

deal with it

first we ignored the shock then we

pretended

that nothing happened everything is okay

everything will eventually turn back to

normal which of course it didn’t

we came to a point where we had to face

reality

but then let me be totally honest with

you it became apparent

that the family wasn’t functioning we

developed

into a dysfunctional family

maybe we have been dysfunctional before

i don’t really know

but it was obvious that we were

dysfunctional

i was too young i had no clue how to

deal with it

i did not know what to make out of it

the only thing i can remember was

that i constantly felt why me

or why my mother

i also came to a point where i had to

face reality

and then i said to myself okay

what do i do i was overwhelmed because i

realized that i could not change

anything

no matter how hard i tried and the

harder i tried and believe me i did try

very hard

the more frustrating it became to me

because i was paralyzed

so i realized what i can change are the

little things i can change the steps i

do

and i also told myself what i will be

doing is i will try to

make this memorable moments and try to

see how i can make life easier

and be good to myself at the end of the

day

i said my mother is teaching me the

hardest lesson she can

teach me something a mother can give to

a daughter

she taught me to be present to be

giving the best in every moment in life

i can

to value time and to value others

and enjoy life to the fullest

and i also told myself that

this is an experience i don’t need to

ever go through in my entire life again

and i was very happy yeah strange that

you think

that i connect happy to such as that

thing but i did

and it worked it’s a very pragmatic

approach but if you know me better

you will know that i am actually a very

pragmatic

person so

enough said about myself

let’s jump back to

[Music]

here i am again faced with uncertainty

but this time i’m not alone we are

all in a collective state of uncertainty

you entire companies

or countries

we have to deal with a different

speed of change there is a new order of

things

and new relevancies we have to deal with

uncertainty such as climate catastrophes

increasing power of internet companies

smart data

artificial intelligence and now to top

it off

with the pandemic we want to hold on to

what we know which is totally perfectly

normal

but at the same time everything around

us changes in

a speed of light and it’s super fast and

it increases in complexity

so it’s no wonder that we feel

overwhelmed or we feel

like what shall we do right now how to

deal with it

and often a question comes into mind as

i said how to deal with it and

we tend to focus on the systems of this

uncertainty which we try to change

which i believe from my point of view is

the wrong thing to do

because it amplifies

often uncertainty it makes it even

bigger

or more painful and also

it takes away the pleasure of a new

journey that you could be taken

so when i was 21

i looked back and i said okay i want to

change it

i embrace uncertainty i

let it move in with me i decide my life

is an adventure

and this is what i’m doing at the moment

and this is how i deal with this new

reality

i see life as an adventure and i develop

resiliencies

and you can do the same

embrace and see the opportunities they

are

and what we can do with this new wealth

of information that is ahead of us

and now i would like to invite you to go

on a trip with me

i would like you to make sure that there

is nothing between us

except the screen

please relax and take a moment

and breathe in and breathe out

and now close your eyes

and feel good

it’s a beautiful day

the sun is shining and you can feel the

sun on your face

you’re out about on a bicycle tour with

your beloved ones

and you feel so good no masks required

everything is perfect

and then something comes into your mind

and you feel how would it be right now

if i could have ice cream that would

just make it perfect

you can imagine the taste you know your

flavored

favorite flavor you know what you would

like to get

you see it you envision it the texture

the more you think about it

the more your tongue

gets active and what happens is

there is an ice cream parlor just around

the corner

so you park your bike you cycle there

you know exactly what you want you don’t

need to think about it

you can almost smell the taste

you step into the ice cream shop there’s

a lady in front of you

you go in you’re eagerly waiting to

place your order

you take one step and there you are

and you look and you see

your favorite ice cream is gone nada

gone nothing

will you leave the shop being frustrated

not knowing

that there are other opportunities will

you be grumpy the entire day

or will you decide to look around

and see the different flavors see the

different

new combinations of ice cream that are

available that you may have never

thought of before

embrace the moment

of opportunities and have a look

now slowly close your eyes and come back

to me

aren’t we humans amazing isn’t it

amazing

what we can imagine or create if we want

to

we possess minds and we have the ability

to revisit things to recreate to create

to reshape to

bring into life to accept or to ignore

if we want to

but is it easy that it really that easy

no not really in a way yes but in a way

no

it’s a rather complicated process that’s

happening

our brain responds to whatever we do

and how we experience our world in

milliseconds

way faster than we are aware of so when

we make a decision

or we think we make a decision as

individual as a business person

we have no awareness of what’s happening

in the background

how our subconsciousness constantly

works and how our experiences and

habits are playing into role

so we believe we make decisions but

ultimately

a lot of that is automated and that’s a

good thing

it’s different with the conscious mind

the conscious mind

needs much more effort and requires more

brain capacity and also more energy

and in moments like this in a moment

like this

massive uncertainty like the pandemic at

the moment

our basic needs and emotions are

activated

and we start looking at the world from a

different point of view

and we give it different meaning

we value it different so when we start

rethinking or revaluating the habits we

have

or we stop the habits we have

we talk about zero based rehabiliting

the need to reinstall or reactivate

habits and affinities is

from zero ground on is zero based

rehabilitating

we humans have the capacity our brain

has the capacity and is equipped

to create new behaviors and habits we

know it’s not

easy but it’s doable

that’s the way we’re wired so we can

create new habits

and now in the pandemic when we don’t

want to change a habit but we’re forced

from the outside we can use this

to help create a better life for

ourselves so if you’re a company you can

see that as an opportunity to change

okay sorry

and use that of an opportunity to change

and look at things from a different

point of view

so the fear

we have is that we’re overwhelmed

and uncertainty is often linked

to negative connotations if we go back

to the ice cream experience

it can also be triggering something

positive

but when we try to overcome the

uncertainty in the aspect

what we don’t really understand or know

most of us don’t know is that we’re also

limiting the pleasure factor

that uncertainty can bring to the game

some scientists say that when we

are in a state of let’s say we fall in

love with someone

that then this positive feeling will

last

longer when we maintain uncertainty and

don’t

try to understand and make everything

clear straight away

they also say that can help make

existing relationships

more attractive or more exciting but i’m

not an expert on this so

don’t quote me on this one i’m more here

to talk about how we can embrace it

and integrate it into our life and

make it more enjoyable

so and now i would like to talk to you

about a few key learnings that i have

ignorance ignore if you feel like

it helps you i myself sometimes i

ignorancia

but i have to tell you at a certain

point it’s not helpful it will come back

to you so the sooner you start dealing

with whatever is difficult or makes you

feel uneasy the better it is

sometimes uncertainty can reveal the

ugly truth

like in my face case with my family

but you have to be ready to deal with

that

this function stays dysfunctional and

that applies to companies to

families to organizations products or

processes

being present always enjoy what you have

and don’t regret things you do because

if you’re present and you decide as good

as you can in this given moment

what’s the point in time to you know

harming yourself afterwards by

questioning yourself sense making sense

making

can help you to deal with traumatic

experiences or with

uncertainty have fun don’t take yourself

too serious

and the pleasure paradox if you make

sense in uncertainty that are linked to

a positive experience

you will harm and take away of the

pleasure

last not least people say okay this is

all good you can assign to that but what

do i do when

uncertainty really takes over and i

have the feeling of being overwhelmed

not knowing what to do so i tell you a

little trick of what i do is

whenever that feeling comes into my life

i look at it and i said okay emotions

i accept you i take you and i park you

decide on where you want to park them on

the live

right or on the left side totally up to

you so don’t push them away just park

them there

and then look at the piece of paper

which is in front of you

empty and you said okay so what is it

right now what is this complexity that i

don’t know how to deal with all this

uncertainty

and explore it see the opportunity that

lies in it

explore what you can do and how you can

help shape

and change it and all the beautiful

things you can develop

new solutions you can create with

whomever you want to involved in that

process

and all of a sudden you will realize

that the

excitement will overtake the anxiety

before and they will no longer be

relevant so let me know how that works

for you i would be very interested

last not least redesigning

our thinking you can make use of the

ability to turn around whatever you have

in mind right now from negative to

something positive

and create something which is meaningful

inspirational

lovely and powerful so it’s all yours

thank you namaste and on

cheers thank you

you