Unexpected Everything as it comes
[Applause]
when was the last time
you did something unexpected
when i was 24 years old i was exactly
looking for these moments
i wanted to explore new things for
myself
that would expand my personal horizons
and take me out of my comfort zone
that’s why i ended up in africa
without any real plan i decided to
backpack the continent
because i was really curious to learn
more about various countries and all the
different people cultures and traditions
i captured many beautiful moments during
my trip
but also moments that for me were
completely unfamiliar
one in particular stands out
and i’d like to tell you more about it
and take you with me on that journey
in tanzania i passed by a maasai village
just as the warriors were coming back
from a successful lionhunt
there was a lot of singing and dancing
going on
i wanted to have a closer look
and immediately got involved in a
champion contest
many of you are now thinking what the
heck is a jumping contest
to give you an idea
the swiss national sport is schwingen
and jumping is the national sport of the
maasai
in these jumping competition maasai
warriors compete against each other to
prove their height of their jumps
but also to demonstrate their sense of
grace
the rules are simple
opponents face each other
and the messiah starts singing
they give a signal in a constant rhythm
and on the third signal
they have to jump as high as they can
the person who jumps the highest wins
and the winner was fairly chosen by the
chief
of course
they didn’t think that i’m a real
opponent and that’s why they made a lot
of jokes about me
so they offered me a reward
if i could win
it was either
a massage woman
or a cow
before i go on
i’d like to tell you two facts about
maasai culture back then
fact one
their belief is that all the cows in the
world belong to them
so although other owners must be thieves
the messiah reserved the right to take
the cows back by force or even by
killing
fact two
at the wedding the groom is expected to
pay a bribe price
the bribe price is fixed at 25 cuddles
23 cows and two bulls
of course
neither my sign or i believe that i had
any chance of winning in their national
sport
because that would be like a maasai
defeating our king of schwingen
realistic
that’s why
both of us didn’t take the offer
seriously
otherwise after hearing these two facts
i would have noticed
how the rope around my neck was slowly
but surely tightening
back to the chomping contest
since there were range hours in the
morning
my opponent got stuck in the mud
that’s why i had a huge advantage with
my running shoes something i completely
underestimated
unbelievably i won the first round
along with the warriors who can jump the
highest
special consideration is given to the
warriors who shoot the spear first into
a lion doing a joint line kill
these receive a special headdress made
from the mane of the lion
now
guess who my second opponent was
that’s right
it was the lion killer
so maybe you understand
why it felt to me like before a boxing
match
i met my opponent in the middle of the
ring
we looked deeply into each other’s eyes
the tension was massive
the sun burned down on my skin i was
drenched in sweat
the messiah started singing
the first signal came
i was ready i was really ready followed
by the second signal and exact at the
third signal my counterpart screamed
sold out that i missed the jump and the
winner was of course
then lion killer
did i expect
a man who killed a lion with justice
beer
to win a chomping contest
with such a cowardly move
no not really
but honestly i’m glad he did
since my performance was not too bad
i was invited to spend some more time
and eat with them at the maasai village
as i started to think about the menu
my hut began to spin rapidly
please something vegetarian
please
of course
my wish was not granted
on the menu was
fresh cow’s milk
with a nice shot of cow’s blood
to make it perfectly clear
starter
main course
and dessert
all in one
directly
milked
lukewarm cow’s milk
with a delicious metallic tasting shot
of cow’s blood
to get the cow splot the cow’s head is
held
and an arrow is used to score the
swollen juggler ween
granted not fatal
but still an unusual way to prepare food
afterwards the cow is bandaged and they
live on
of course till the next era comes
would i have had this experience
if i had known the maasai menu at once
nowadays
everyone knows about everything before
it even starts people search online or
in social media what they would like to
eat at the restaurant
look at pictures of the food and the
place
and of course the reviews and comments
in this case i’m 100 sure
by the milk with fresh cow’s plot i
would have chickened out even in a
michelin star restaurant
but
was it one of my most memorable meals
i can definitely answer yes it was
so
my lesson learned from this is clear
being open to new things sometimes
brings surprises that stay with us for a
lifetime
once we got back to the campfire
i learned a lot about massage culture
during a conversation with ismail
ismail is the guy on the left side of
the picture
out of the blue he said
stefan
you are such a lucky guy
you are much closer to your god
i was perplexed
why do you think that
i have heard that a white man had been
on the moon is that true
yes it’s true
now you see stefan that is exactly where
you’re much closer to your god
i wanted to explain him how the moon
landing really went down
but he was not interested in it at all
he directly switched the subject to
how far away switzerland is
how many cows are living in switzerland
are they healthy are they protected by
arms
and so on and on
ismail was satisfied with the answer
yes
a white man had been on the moon
that was all he was interested in
because it wouldn’t have helped him to
know more about it
but his real focus
were on the cows
because the cows are one of the most
important things in the maasai culture
and to survive
my curiosity has always been driven by
discovering experiencing learning new
things
by trying to solve a problem or to know
my own limits by means of
challenges or drills
up to this point i was never i was
really never directly confronted with
curiosity
from the standpoint of survival
so i was fascinated by the fact that
ismail didn’t got distracted by the moon
landing
and immediately put a specific curiosity
his survival instinct right into action
and wanted to know every single detail
about cows in switzerland
curiosity arises for various reasons and
is one of the most beautiful gifts of
being human
it helps us to be open to new things
to learn to grow
to make new friends
it makes us to question the world around
us and it makes us even more innovative
little children see the world with big
eyes
they are not afraid to make mistakes
because they are too young to judge and
evaluate they have no preconceptions and
they are unbiased
everything in the world
seems new and interesting
as we grow older
the fear of doing something wrong or
asking the wrong things growth
because we often hear
don’t do this don’t do that
stop asking those questions
the result is
as adults
we have simply forgotten to be curious
it has largely disappeared from our
behavior
and we lose self-confidence in it
we live in a digital age
and i’m sure you have all noticed
that the world around us is changing
much faster today than it used to
many of the skills we have learned in
recent years are already obsolete
new hard skills like blockchain machine
learning robotic process automation are
now in demand
tasks are becoming increasingly
automated
this means for workers they need to be
retrained and upskilled for a
significant extent over the next coming
years
and this
is exactly where we need curiosity
because it is one of the most important
drivers of learning
once we have awakened our curiosity it
is important to put it directly into
action
the more we try of course the more we
fail but the more we learn
and suddenly things become achievable
and in turn we gain self-confidence
the new confidence coupled with
curiosity
takes away the fear of the unknown
and sometimes
even let us allow to experience
the unexpected
it’s often these unexpected moments that
brings us joy
because we were expecting something but
instead something completely different
happened
so my travel experience always reminds
me
not to be afraid of missing out on
something but
to stay curious
because it helps us to be open to new
things
to learn to grow to innovate
and it’s one of the most important
drivers we need in this fast-paced
digital world
always leave a little room for the
unexpected
whether it’s a new idea a new solution
or a personal adventure
now
look in the mirror
and figure it out for yourself
but always remember
if you do nothing unexpected
nothing unexpected happens
thank you
[Applause]