What you can take home from university – even decades after graduation
Dieter Zetsche
Ehem. Vorsitzender des Vorstands der Daimler AG / Leiter Mercedes-Benz Cars
I am privileged to talk to many different and exciting people at various occasions throughout the year. And I really enjoy every opportunity I have to meet young people, the leaders of tomorrow.
Last week I visited the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. And I had the experience again: Being among a group of inspired, ambitious and energetic young adults is a great way to recharge your own batteries.
My foremost takeaway was the inspiring culture of optimism that prevailed among these students. They have a clear focus on progress instead of problems … on finding innovative solutions rather than getting bogged down by old roadblocks. This isn’t something you can learn sitting in a lecture hall or poring over a textbook. It’s pretty much just in the air. And it’s contagious!
Think about it: The German term “Kulturpessimismus” (“cultural pessimism”) is much more common in our language than the word “Kulturoptimismus.” In fact, there isn’t even a Wikipedia entry on “Kulturoptimismus”. And we all know: If it is not on Wikipedia, it probably doesn’t exist.
Searching the German Wikipedia for cultural optimism directly ends up at the article on pessimism:
The German Wikipedia: No entry on “cultural optimism”, yet a direct link to the article on cultural pessimism
From many years of personal observation, I can tell that some people tend to lose the optimism of their early days over the years of their careers. And no, I am not naive: You can always find reasons to dwell on the negative, if you just try hard enough. But what we need is a culture that brings back more of that optimistic attitude we all had during our high school days and university years.
Obviously, we cannot all return to university to live it up on campus. But it helps to go back and visit school every now and then. The spirit there is just contagious. Thanks for that, ESMT!
President, Chisholm Trail Transportation, LLC
7 年I need to try this, being around a younger group that shares the optimism! Get to know your coworkers hopes and dreams, dreaming big is not to be taken for granted.
Business Development @ Inter IKEA Group
7 年Maybe there's a reason which lies in organizational culture/ hierarchy/ roles & responsibility why "young people tend to lose the optimism of their early days over the years of their careers". But, definitely, one needs to keep up the spirits and grow in professional journey.
Senior Consultant and Founder I icoop Consulting
7 年Basic but essential point of view and at the end what differentiates successful from not successful people and enterprises - excellent!
Co-Founder @ Tendos.ai
7 年To cite my professor at Stanford: Instead of resource-constraint, most people are opportunity-constraint. Instead of limitations and problems, we have to focus the opportunities that arise in them. It is time for Universities to help their students to build up "creative confidence" in order to keep up this optimistic attitude and to make changes also later on.