Have you ever felt that life is spinning faster and faster,
and that the harder you run, the less energy you seem

to have?

Never before in human history have we been exposed to

such an enormous !ow of information.

With social media — and now with AI — the stream

continues to accelerate.

We no longer only follow what happens locally or

nationally. Every day we take part in global events.

We can instantly access expert knowledge from

anywhere in the world.

At the same time, technological development continues

at a speed never seen before.

And in the middle of all this, we are expected to perform

faster and faster.

Is this a threat — or an opportunity?

With the level of noise constantly increasing, how do we

find the signal and keep it clean?

A centrifuge can serve as a symbol for the paradigm we

live in.

A centrifuge spins in order to push clothes outward

against the walls of the drum, squeezing the water out of

them.

Sometimes I imagine myself running inside such a drum

— the centrifuge of life.

The drum spins so fast that I can barely keep track of

what is happening around me.

Emails arrive faster than they can be answered. New

messages, new projects, new expectations — before the

previous ones are finished.

With so much information and pressure, it becomes

difficult to focus. All my attention is required simply to

take the next step.

Eventually my focus is reduced to one thing:

Staying on my feet.

Surviving.

At best I manage to keep an eye on the people closest to

me and see how they manage to stay upright.

The faster the drum spins, the greater the pressure.

We do not feel very well.

But we tell ourselves:

“This is the reality we live in.”

One way to endure the situation is to live in the future.

We dream about succeeding with the next project — and

finally becoming free.

Another way is to live in the past. We dream about the

good old days.

Some people condemn technological development. Some

shout at the machine operator to turn the machine off.

They criticize the absurdity of running around trying to

keep balance.

Yet they keep running.

A whole industry of consultants offers expert advice on

how to think in order to stay on your feet.

Books are published where the most successful balance

artists explain their best tricks.

How they survived the latest increase in speed — with

new strategies, mass layoffs, mergers, or major

investments in technology.

The risk of staying near the outer wall is obvious.

At any moment we can fall.

And when we fall, we are immediately thrown against

the outer edge of the drum — where our life force is

squeezed out of us.

Some people who have fallen have been forced to find

another solution.

Others — while still standing — have already seen the

futility of the centrifuge and begun searching for new

answers.

Instead of trying to run faster, they began asking a

different question.

The alternative has so far been discovered by only a few.

Their solution is simple.

They move toward the center of the centrifuge.

At the center, the drum does not feel as fast.

There is time to see clearly. Time to feel what step needs

to be taken next.

Some even report that when they reach the very center,

the speed of the drum disappears entirely.

They say it was only an illusion.

From this place they feel free to move.

Free to create what they want.

Even together with those still running in the drum.

And they claim they are having great fun.

Our constant pursuit of time efficiency and short-term

productivity makes us run faster and faster.

As a result we lose connection with ourselves.

Our programmable minds take over — filled with news,

social media, trends, and information that may not even

matter in our lives.

Many people become ill.

Studies suggest that up to 70% of doctor visits today are

related to stress.

And the stress fuels the use of drugs, alcohol, and

violence — especially when old traumas are activated.

The only solution I can see is to begin exploring our

inner world.

When we slow down and become more mindful — more

centered — something changes.

We reconnect with our joy of living.

With our deeper purpose.

With our creativity.

With our unique talents.

We make a conscious choice to change the paradigm.

We begin cleaning our channels from noise.

We dive deeper into what we truly want to spend our

time on.

And we learn to recognize the signal — and use it to

move forward.

For me, this is fundamentally a leadership question.

What becomes possible if more of us move toward the

center of the centrifuge?

Which talents lie dormant within our organizations?

How do we access them?

How much creative energy can we release together?

And how will that in!uence the products and services

we create?

The question may not be how fast the drum spins.

The real question is where we choose to stand inside it.

Questions for You

• What is your experience of living in the centrifuge?

• What do you do to “endure the situation”?

• Have you noticed how the speed of the drum feels

different depending on how you feel?