by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
A strong value
Pierre-Antoine is an ecologist to the core; carbon footprints and recycling are his favourite topics. However, a business school, and a job at Armor, a company that specialises in industrial printing doesn’t sound very ecological. At first sight, at least.
Because in fact, when you believe in something enough, you find room for it in your life. Pierre-Antoine makes the filament for 3D printing from the recycled outer shells of ski boots (for the red one), yoghurt pots (for the white one) and ballpoint pen lids (for the blue one).
And where does the business side come in? Easy! Thanks to a partnership with some talented designers, they have created a loud-speaker. I’ll explain: the user chooses the design and colour of his object via open source. Clever, isn’t it? The project was presented on 9th January at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.
And what about you? Which of your values is strong enough to enhance your daily life?
PS: You can also participate in the adventure right here.
by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
Coming out
One day, without making a big deal of it, a friend decided to tell us the story of how he came out. The day that he dared to talk about his sexuality with his parents.
We see him as a very fulfilled person, who is happy with his life and well-balanced. The discussion with his parents seemed to be part of his journey towards personal fulfilment.
To tell the truth, we don’t know how much time he spent going over it in his head, weighing up the pros and cons, imagining different scenarios, preparing what he was going to say and sleeping badly before he decided to come out. It could have been weeks, months or years.
Perhaps he said to himself that his parents would give him a hard time at first but in the end, to his surprise, that’s not what happened at all. He felt so good, so relieved that his parents’ reaction was only of secondary importance. He felt balanced again. And he didn’t need to hide away any more from the people that he loves the most.
When he talks about it today, it seems easy. But he couldn’t have known that beforehand.
What about you? What would you like to “come out” about, and what do you need to discuss frankly with your loved ones to help you feel balanced again?
by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
Press here!
Someone explained to me that most buttons in a city are dummies. For example, red traffic lights. They work on automatic settings but if you give a pedestrian a button to press, she has the impression of actively participating in her wish to cross the road.
Ellen J. Langer, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University studied “The illusion of control”. She came to the conclusion that buttons reduce stress and promote well-being. They are placebo buttons.
We use surveys to ask employees for their opinion, we vote in elections, our spouse comes to us for advice. And even if what happens as a result is not what we wanted, we have the impression that we have been listened to.
Most of what we want is to be listened to. If we have this space or a forum in which to express ourselves, we have the impression of being in control.
What things do you need to express to satisfy your need to be in control?
by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
Big hug
As all my friends know, I love giving people big hugs. I like the physical contact with the people I love, I like giving a hug to someone who is in distress and I like giving a celebratory hug too. Any excuse, in fact.
One day I was giving a coaching class and I saw that one of the participants looked a bit dubious, as if he were struggling. Once we’d finished what we were doing, I asked him if he needed a hug. He looked down at me from a great height and said. “I’d have thought that you need it more than me, don’t you?”
Upset, I quickly turned away and found someone else who needed a hug. And it was then that I began to understand. He was right. I’d asked him if he wanted a hug not for HIM but for ME. I had projected my need on to him.
A bit later on, I told him what I’d discovered – after all, this was a coaching session, the perfect place to have this kind of discussion – and he explained to me how he worked it out: “Whenever my father wanted to eat, he said to my mother – darling, the children are hungry!!”
What about you? Do you project any of your needs onto someone else?
by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
Apple Break
Philippe told me that he has introduced a compulsory break for his team at around 3.30 pm to 4 pm. He calls it the “apple break”. Not just because it’s too early for a quick drink and too late for caffeine, or because an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but because an apple is a good excuse.
You can’t eat an apple in one go nor can you eat it while you’re doing something else. You need a certain amount of time and at least one hand free. So the break lasts the length of time you spend chewing and it forces – or allows – us to listen to the other apple-eaters!
If I know that at a specific time during the day, there’s going to be a difficult or vitally important moment for either myself or my team, I think about slipping in an “apple break”. It’s all about anticipation and management, creating a break to be able to look up and take a breather instead of exhausting myself at the rock face. It’s all about being ‘forced’ to discuss issues with other people instead of going around in circles on my own.
Italians go to their local café for a wickedly strong espresso, and I always plan lunch breaks with people from all walks of life to broaden my horizons.
What about your apple break? What would it be like?