Bernd Hufnagl, a Viennese neurobiologist and management consultant, is one of the most fascinating brain researchers of our time.
The bestselling author and sought-after keynote speaker puts forward a revolutionary theory:
“Make more time for daydreaming!”
Allowing more time for daydreaming increases performance. Bernd Hufnagl offers practical yet effective advice on how to interrupt everyday life to mentally regenerate, including putting away your smartphone, looking at the world outside the window and taking regular micro-breaks. In his opinion, short periods of relaxation are even more important than a two-week holiday.
Bernd Hufnagl has been researching the relationship between health and the world of work for two decades. In his dynamic lectures, he draws on his professional experience as a researcher and consultant and presents exciting neuroscientific and evolutionary findings that show how “brain-friendly” work and leadership can be organised.
Hufnagl’s lecture topics will focus on the concept of New Work. He will discuss how adapted working can help people escape constant digital stress and preserve humanity in a working world increasingly dominated by AI.
Bernd Hufnagl lecture topics:
- The stressed brain: stress, burnout and mental health
- Digital Permanence: Working brain-friendly in multitasking mode
- The empathetic brain: How to find more respect and empathy
- In search of purpose in work: Brain-friendly framework conditions for a healthy workplace
- Whining culture and problem orientation
- Success culture and obsession with key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Resilience and the acceptance of the unchangeable
- The BioLogic of Leadership: The Biology and Neuroscience of Leadership
- Courage and willingness to change
- Hybrid working environments: working in the New Work age
- Emotional intelligence in times of AI and ChatGPT
- Brain Traps! Brain-friendly work instead of digital exhaustion
Bernd Hufnagl: “Work processes can be optimised, people can’t.”
Bernd Hufnagl believes it is time to reorganise our way of thinking. In this context, he has been focussing on self-efficacy for many years. The feeling of being able to influence and control one’s own life, which is massively hindered in the modern working world: by work that is imposed on us without us understanding its purpose and by the tremendous speed that digitalisation with its condensed tasks and rapid communication processes imposes on us.
Bernd Hufnagl studied biology and medicine and worked in brain research and university teaching for over a decade before founding his own consultancy Benefit GmbH in Vienna in 2002. Together with his team, he supports well-known international companies on their way to New Work.
Hufnagl’s scientific work was honoured by the award of the prestigious Theodor Körner Prize for the Promotion of Science and Art by the Austrian Federal President.