cooperate culture

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke with Robert Poynton. Robert is a highly experienced facilitator, an associate fellow at Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford, and the author of four books that I all read with great interest. In his work, Robert focuses on the application of ideas from improvisation to everyday life, the relationship with time and the everyday miracle of conversations. We talked about the ingredients of real dialogue, the role of questions and responses, and some of the major challenges when talking with each other. Robert shared stories about his work as a facilitator, some of his favorite interventions to spark conversations, and why wearing funky animal slippers will change any board meeting. We also explored how to improvise when facing uncertainty, the role of playfulness in professional settings, and the importance of pause. And along the way, we both realised that good conversations not only depend on what you say, but how you say it, and that we can really practice our capacity to sense what a conversation needs from us, and what we need from a conversation. If you are interested in the dynamics behind great conversations or just want to listen to one, I think this episode could be for you. This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to get started.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke with François Taddei. François is the founder, president and “Chief Exploration Officer” of the Learning Planet Institute in Paris. He is an internationally renowned researcher in evolutionary molecular biology who now devotes his time to the science of learning and teaching - especially working on how we as humans can learn to care better for ourselves, others, and the planet. Having the chance to talk to such a highly accomplished explorer of the learning world, I wanted to know from François how cooperation and learning are connected, how we can use our human dialogue capacities to learn and grow together, and whether we really need authorities to develop new knowledge.Francois shared his ideas on the role of AI, how to develop collective dialogue skills, and whether life in outer space would help us collaborate better on planet earth. He reminded me that the only thing that travels faster than light is imagination - and that moving forward towards what he calls “planetizenship”, we need to think about new forms of collective, ethical dreaming. If you are someone who likes to ask yourself the big questions about life, humanity and our planetary future, this episode is for you.You can learn more about François and his work on the website of the Learning Planet Institute at https://www.learningplanetinstitute.org/fr/ or by following him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran%C3%A7ois-taddei-3696b919/. This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to get started.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke with Anna Christina Günster from the European Space Agency (ESA). Anna is an HR professional in ESA’s HR Center of Competence and an Industrial-Organisational Psychologist with 25 years’ international cross-sector HR experience in Talent Management, Leadership Development & Organisational Development. Anna has an impressive career path in aerospace organisations. Before joining ESA in 2014, she built up and managed the Graduate Program of the German Aerospace Center in Cologne for several years - a program that trains PhD candidates in transversal skills for their future as leaders in space industry and space research. Besides her extensive knowledge about the work dynamics within space agencies, Anna has also worked in research, industry, NGO, public & government sectors.During our conversation, we talked about Anna’s perspectives on human cooperation, what makes for successful teamwork, and what the biggest challenges are when working in such an international organisation as ESA. Anna also shared what other industries can learn from ESA's projects in space, the psychological needs behind successful cooperation and the future of leadership.I was deeply impressed by the capacity of the people at ESA to solve such complicated challenges within complex and partly unpredictable environments, how leaders have to provide both technical expertise and emotional intelligence, and how ESA as an organisation navigates the ambiguity between freedom of innovation and structure of processes on a daily basis. This episode is for everyone interested in how the people at ESA work together to explore the universe and achieve seemingly impossible things.If you want to learn more about Anna and her work, you can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annachristinaguenster/ or discover the many facets of ESA on their official website at https://www.esa.int/. You can also have a closer look at the ESA Convention that Anna mentioned at https://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/SP-1344/ESA_Convention_SP-1344_EN.pdf. The ESA Convention 1975 treaty is the founding framework of the European Space Agency and the basis of European space cooperation. It defines ESA’s purpose as advancing space for peaceful purposes, strengthening Europe’s scientific, technological and industrial capabilities in space, and delivering benefits to society.The convention also describes ESA’s governance. Through the Council, ESA Member States shape strategy, priorities and funding, while pooling resources and capabilities to pursue programmes no single nation could achieve alone. This balance between Member State influence, shared mission and coordinated execution makes ESA a distinctive model of international cooperation.And finally, if you are curious to know what job opportunities exist at ESA, find out more on https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA. This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to get started.

In this episode of cooperate culture, I spoke with Gabriela Ourivio Assmar. Gabriela currently works as Mediator at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, where she is responsible for workplace conflicts worldwide. Originally from Brazil, she has almost 30 years of professional experience in multinational top management and as an entrepreneur. Gabriela set up two legal departments, a public affairs department, founded a Brazilian NGO and much more. Prior to her work at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, she worked as an ombudsperson for several organizations in Rio de Janeiro. With Gabriela, we talked about what makes conflict so interesting for her, what her work at the ILO is all about, and what differentiates healthy from unhealthy conflict. Gabriela shared her thoughts on how to make it easier for people to openly address conflict at work, the role of psychological safety, and the need for clear conflict resolution structures within organizations. My main takeaway was that conflict mediation in organizations has to be rethought - and Gabriela gave a lot of inspiration on how to do that.If you want to know more about Gabriela and her work, you can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-ourivio-assmar-103356a/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to get started.

In dieser Folge von cooperate culture habe ich mit Philipp Jahn gesprochen. Philipp ist aktuell der Regionaldirektor der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Zentralasien und wohnt seit 2021 in Bishkek. Zuvor war er bereits mehrere Jahre für die FES im Sudan tätig und hat für die GIZ in Aserbaidschan, Äthiopien und Afghanistan gearbeitet. Angesichts einer so bunten Auslandserfahrung wollte ich natürlich von Philipp wissen, was seine bisherigen Learnings aus der internationalen Zusammenarbeit sind. Wir haben gemeinsam hinter die Kulissen seiner Karriere geblickt und über Führungsarbeit im Ausland, Anpassung an neue Kulturen und Offenheit fürs Unbekannte gesprochen. Dabei ging es unter anderem um bewusst gesetzte Irritationen, Perfektionismus in Krisengebieten und den Unterschied zwischen Analyse und Erfahrung im Umgang mit fremden Kontexten. Mich hat sehr beeindruckt, wie vielfältig die Dimensionen internationaler Zusammenarbeit sind, und mit welcher Leichtigkeit Philipp über die komplexen Herausforderungen in fremden Kontexten erzählt. Für all diejenigen, die international arbeiten, hat unser Gespräch viele interessante Impulse zu bieten.Falls ihr mehr über Philipp und seine Arbeit erfahren wollt, könnt ihr ihn auf LinkedIn finden: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippcjahn/.Dieser Podcast wird euch präsentiert von emtsev cooperation. Seid ihr bereit, Arbeitsplätze zu besseren Orten zu machen? Kommt auf www.emtsev.com, um loszulegen.

In dieser Folge von cooperate culture habe ich mit Tamara Wyszynski gesprochen. Tamara ist systemische Business Coach, Facilitator und Transformationsgestalterin. Was mich von Anfang an sehr an Tamaras Arbeit interessiert hat, ist ihr starker Bezug zur Natur. Tamara nutzt nämlich die Natur und die Arbeit im Freien, um Menschen in beruflichen Herausforderungen zu unterstützen. Wir haben über Tamara’s beruflichen Weg ins Outdoor-Coaching gesprochen, wie sich die Bürowelt mit der Außenwelt verbinden lässt, ob uns moderne Technologien Zugang zur Natur verschaffen können, und warum im Kontakt mit der Natur so viel Potenzial steckt. Ich habe Tamara nach ihren Methoden im Outdoor-Coaching gefragt und was ihre Arbeit mit Inner Development Goals (IDG) zu tun hat, wir haben über ihre aktuellen Ideen einer Outdoor-App gesprochen und auch darüber, wie sich Natur und KI integrieren lassen. Mir ist dabei klar geworden: Draußen arbeiten ermöglicht uns, weiter zu denken. Die Natur bietet uns so viele Angebote - und wir können sie produktiv für unsere Arbeit nutzen.Es war ein toller und sehr inspirierender Austausch - und ich hatte danach sofort Lust, rauszugehen. Das könnt ihr natürlich auch gerne machen. Meine Empfehlung: Kopfhörer an, raus an die frische Luft, und los gehts!Falls ihr mehr über Tamara und ihre Arbeit erfahren wollt, könnt ihr sie auf LinkedIn finden:   / 🌱-tamara-wyszynski-223b0083 .Dieser Podcast wird euch präsentiert von emtsev cooperation. Seid ihr bereit, Arbeitsplätze zu besseren Orten zu machen? Kommt auf www.emtsev.com, um loszulegen.

 In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke to Dr. Paul Meerts. Paul Meerts is a Political Scientist and International Negotiation Analyst. He wrote his PhD on the evolution of Diplomatic Negotiation and holds an honorary doctor title from Mongolian State University, as well as an Order of Merit of Austria and Romania.Paul became the Head of Diplomatic Training at the Netherlands Society of International Affairs in the late 1970s until he was nominated Deputy General Director in 1990. From 2006 to 2018, he was Advisor and Associate at the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations and, until today, he delivers international negotiation seminars worldwide. In 2017, Paul also founded the Program on International Negotiation Training, a network of trainers and coaches in public sector international negotiation processes.With Paul, we talked about why we have so many conflicts around the world, how selfish human nature really is, what we can do to get out of destructive conflict dynamics, and much more. With all his knowledge and wisdom, Paul took me on an interesting tour through the history of international negotiation - so if you are looking for some new historical anecdotes about cooperation and conflict, this episode is for you!If you want to know more about Paul and his work, you can find him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmeerts/) or on the PIN website (https://www.pin-negotiation.org/en/steering-committee/paul-meerts/). This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit www.emtsev.com to get started.

In this episode of cooperate culture, I spoke with Dr. Johannes Katsarov. Johannes is an Ethicist, Educational Scientist and Serious Game Designer. Currently, he is the Head of the Serious Game Lab at Leuphana University Lüneburg in Germany and manages a team in diverse game-based education initiatives.With Johannes, we discussed what serious games are, why it makes so much sense to play in educational contexts, and how to create impactful learning experiences. We shared stories about excessive board games during ski trips, childhood memories of collecting Pokemon, and dangerous experiments using skateboards as catapults. Johannes explained the downsides of passive learning in conventional education and outlined four scientific aspects that make for effective playful learning. We talked about the importance of failure, how to make serious people play, and how do be generally more playful our everyday lives. And by the end of our conversation, it became obvious to me that playing does not only make many of our life problems easier to handle - it also makes everything we do a lot more fun.If you want to know more about serious games and the work that Johannes is doing, you can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkatsarov/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Are you ready to make work a better place? Visit www.emtsev.com to get started.

Dans cet épisode de cooperate culture, j’ai parlé avec Bernard Cazaban Matagrin. Bernard est le directeur de l'Alliance Française de Zurich et supervise les opérations stratégiques, administratives, éducatives et culturelles de l'organisation. Ses responsabilités comprennent entre autres la supervision de l'école de langue française, la programmation culturelle, la communication et la promotion ainsi que les relations institutionnelles de l’Alliance Française à Zurich.Avec Bernard, nous n'avons pas parlé de culture d'entreprise, mais de culture au sens propre du terme. Nous avons discuté de l’importance de la culture, de football et de livres, de peintures, de podcasts et du rôle que la culture joue dans notre développement individuel et collectif. Et j'ai très vite compris: la culture est partout, et elle est une partie essentielle de notre vie humaine.Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur Bernard et son travail, vous pouvez le contacter sur LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernard-cazaban-matagrin-35909928/.Ce podcast vous est présenté par emtsev cooperation. Prêt à faire du travail un meilleur lieu ? Rendez-vous sur www.emtsev.com et c'est parti !

Dans cet épisode de cooperate culture, j'ai discuté avec Marie Emart. Marie est consultante en stratégie d'impact social et directrice associée chez Connexe Consulting. Dans le cadre de ses fonctions, elle accompagne des organisations à révéler leur potentiel d'impact positif sur la société.Au cours de notre conversation, Marie m'a expliqué ce qu'est l'impact social, pourquoi le sujet est important pour des grandes organisations ainsi que pour des PME, et comment transformer des projets sociaux en expériences percutantes et amusantes pour les organisations et leurs collaborateurs. En plus de tout cela, Marie n'a pas seulement partagé pleins d'anecdotes et d'exemples de son travail quotidien, mais aussi trois conseils très pratiques et faciles que tout le monde peut implementer tout de suite. Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur le travail de Marie, vous pouvez la contacter sur LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-emart/.Ce podcast vous est présenté par emtsev cooperation. Prêt à faire du travail un meilleur lieu ? Rendez-vous sur www.emtsev.com et c'est parti !

In dieser Folge von cooperate culture habe ich mit Carsten Gabbert gesprochen. Carsten ist der Regierungspräsident des Regierungsbezirks Freiburg und damit Chef einer Verwaltungsbehörde mit über 1.700 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern. Sein beruflicher Werdegang ist bunt: Nach dem Studium hat er zunächst in einem Software-Unternehmen gearbeitet, war dann 16 Jahre lang Bürgermeister in Baden-Württemberg, hat sich zwischenzeitlich als Strategieberater selbstständig gemacht, bevor er 2024 schließlich als Regierungspräsident in Freiburg ernannt wurde.Als Weltenbummler zwischen Wirtschaft und öffentlichem Dienst fand ich es spannend zu hören, wie Carsten auf die Arbeitswelt der Verwaltung blickt. Wir haben darüber gesprochen, wie er auf moderne Organisationsentwicklung schaut, was Unternehmen von Verwaltungen lernen können, wieviel ein Regierungspräsident verändern kann und was die Zusammenarbeit innerhalb von Verwaltungen so besonders macht. Und ich habe gemerkt: Verwaltung funktioniert manchmal doch etwas anders, als man sich das so vorstellt - und zum Teil auch aus gutem Grund!Falls Ihr mehr über Carsten und seine Arbeit erfahren willst, könnt Ihr ihm auf LinkedIn folgen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsten-gabbert-6aab811b4/Dieser Podcast wird Euch präsentiert von emtsev cooperation. Seid Ihr bereit, Arbeitsplätze zu besseren Orten zu machen? Kommt auf www.emtsev.com, um loszulegen.

In this episode of cooperate culture, I spoke with Frans Schram. Frans is a negotiation expert and accredited mediator with almost two decades of professional and personal experience in the fields of diplomacy, negotiation, conflict resolution, interculturality and European affairs. He trained more than 5000 negotiators and other professionals from close to 160 different nationalities, and worked in cooperation with around 80 organisations in the public and private sector worldwide.I asked Frans what a good negotiator actually is, how to design impactful negotiation trainings, and what we all can do to better negotiate in our everyday life. Frans shared stories about Jean Monnet and his Cognac, explained how to get discounts on jeans, and reflected what we can learn from hostage negotiations. And the more I talked with Frans, the clearer it became to me that there is no such thing as an "art of the deal", that we can negotiate about almost everything, and how important long term relationships are in finding good agreements. If you are interested to learn more about Frans and his work, you can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frans-schram-51b638/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Together, let's make work a better place: https://www.emtsev.com.

Diana Oser works as a systemic change manager. She loves connecting people and ideas to make positive change happen. In sustainability and community projects, Diana brings ideas to life through structured planning and organized project management, creating spaces where diverse voices can co-create solutions. As an enabler, she helps teams and networks unlock their potential, always guided by curiosity, collaboration, and a commitment to lasting impact.In this conversation, we talked about systems, how to change systems, and how to manage change. Through her vast experience with change in very different contexts, Diana was able to share many great examples and explanations to make the big questions around systemic change more tangible and understandable. If you would like to learn more about the topics we mentioned in our conversation, here are some useful links to some of the highlights: - The 5R framework (with links to system mapping templates): https://collaboratiohelvetica.ch/en/blog/2021/7/28/the-5r-framework-gn2bw - The system mapping template in English: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/625d95e12141460c1475d762/t/64181229bbc4456648a2c2fe/1679299113742/Collaboratio%2BHelvetica%2BEcosystem%2BMap.pdf- The iceberg model: https://collaboratiohelvetica.ch/en/blog/titanic-levels-intervention-iceberg-model- The toolbox: https://collaboratiohelvetica.ch/en/toolbox- Blog articles: https://collaboratiohelvetica.ch/en/blog- The project "Protein Transition" as an example for systemic change: https://www.proteintransition.ch/- The Citizens' Council for Food Policy: https://www.buergerinnenrat.ch/de/jetzt-wird-aufgetischt/- The Collective Transitions: https://www.collectivetransitions.com/- Parayma, Support Hub for Changemakers, social entrepreneurs, and systems change leaders: https://www.parayma.co/ If you need support with coaching and facilitation of systemic change and transformation processes for individuals, projects or organisations, feel free to reach out to Diana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-oser-55808670/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Let's make work a better place, together: https://www.emtsev.com.

Sophie Pénicaud is an experienced advisor in the humanitarian sector and currently works for an international NGO in the field of children’s rights. In this episode of cooperate culture, we spoke about how it is for her to work in such a challenging, but at the same time so relevant environment.I was curious to know why Sophie chose her career path, what her everyday work life looks like, and what challenges she faces along the way. Besides many interesting insights into her personal work, Sophie also shared some useful advice for everyone who wants to get involved in the humanitarian sector themselves. My main takeaway from our conversation: We can all find purpose in life. Maybe not in every job, but there so much more we can do outside the workplace as well.If you are interested to know more about Sophie and her work, you can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-penicaud/This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit https://www.emtsev.com.

In this episode, I spoke with Ida Manton about diplomacy at work.Ida is a consultant, trainer, lecturer and researcher in international negotiations. For more than 20 years, Ida worked for International Organizations, both as local and as international staff. She studied International Relations and Diplomacy in the Netherlands and then specialised in training various audiences in negotiation and diplomacy. Ida works with diplomatic academies, universities, think tanks, international organizations as well as youth groups and business education centers. In addition to that, she is also a visiting professor at the University of Economics in Prague and regularly publishes her research on international negotiations and diplomacy. We spoke about what diplomacy really is, how we can develop diplomatic skills for our professional life, and how diplomacy can help us improve cooperation and conflict at work. And it became very clear that diplomacy offers a lot of advantages for everyone involved - not only in international politics, but also in everyday workplaces. If you want to learn more about Ida's work, you can connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ida-manton-2a064118/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit https://www.emtsev.com.

Adam Lawrence is many things. He is a facilitator, speaker, author, professor, consultant, educator, singer, actor, improviser, comedian, director - and the list goes on. Maybe that is one reason why Adam knows so much about improvisation. And as an experienced improviser, Adam agreed to actually not prepare anything for this podcast episode, and we simply improvised. What came out of it was...well, you judge for yourself.Our improvised conversation took several interesting turns. We talked about Voldemort's horcruxes, what scrambled eggs are called in Spanish, and the role of Star Wars rebels in the business sector. Adam shared what his colleague Markus Hormeß has to do with dead horses, why the innovation of a burger has nothing to do with food, and what he learned from Renatus Hoogenraad about how to deal with big egos. And finally, I also got a live taste of Adam's improvised thoughts on fear, rebellion and harmony.I got to know Adam as an outstanding expert and unconventional thinker when it comes to using principles of so-called "applied improvisation" to help people collaborate better. My main takeaway from our discussion is that improvisation is indeed very useful at work - not always, but more often than one might think. As Adam says, we all know how to improvise. The question is whether we are ready to use and develop that skill in the right situations.If you want to know more about Adam and his work, you can connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamstjohnlawrence/  or visit his company page http://www.workplayexperience.com. You might also meet him at http://globaljams.org if you want to join a highly innovative community of problem-solving and creativity. In addition, here are some of the resources that we mentioned during our conversation: The improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKg_ZFByYTINckLG76cjUEgThe Applied Improvisation Network: https://www.appliedimprovisationnetwo...The book "Everything's An Offer" by Robert Poynton: https://robertpoynton.com/do/books/Adam's co-authored book "This Is Service Design Doing": https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.comSome of Edgar Schein's ideas: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-t...The IE Business School Madrid: https://www.ie.edu/business-school/Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed": https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745339...This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit https://www.emtsev.com.

Adam Ambrozy is the Co-Founder of MakeTeamWork, a company that helps organisations, teams, and individuals thrive in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. In the cooperate culture podcast, we talked about what makes a team work, why Adam cares so much about it, and what we can do to work better with others.Adam shared many professional and personal stories about what really matters for good teamwork. My main takeaway: great teamwork happens when we not only understand the underlying concepts and models, but when we actually apply them and put our knowledge into practice. There are many things we can do ourselves, both as team members and leaders - and when we get stuck, we can reach out to people like Adam to get fresh perspectives on how to collaborate better. If you want to know more about Adam and his work, you can connect with him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/adamambrozy or visit his company website at maketeamwork.com.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠.

Caroline Zamor is a Senior Sustainability Professional and currently the Head of Sustainability for a leading international law firm. In the cooperate culture podcast, we talked about Caroline's work, what sustainability really means, and what we can actually do about it.It became clear to me that there are indeed many things we can do to be more sustainable - both on an individual level, but also as teams and organizations. Through the combination of her in-depth knowledge and her practical experience in professional sustainability, Caroline opened many new perspectives on how to look at one of the most crucial challenges of our time.If you want to know more about Caroline and her work, you can connect with her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/carolinezamor. And if you are very lazy, check out "The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World" that Caroline mentioned during our conversation: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/takeaction/This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit www.emtsev.com.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, we speak with Gamification Coach Henk van der Wath about what gamification is all about, how it works, and whether we can gamify our lives.As a Gamification Coach, Henk helps purpose-driven individuals infuse playfulness and intentionality into their lives. By combining concepts from gamification, psychology, and design thinking, he empowers creatives, entrepreneurs, and leaders to reimagine their routines, rediscover joy, and achieve meaningful progress.In our conversation, Henk mentions several resources, such as Notion (https://www.notion.com) and the work of Yu-Kai Chou (https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/). If you want to know more about that or reach out to Henk for additional insights into gamification, you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hjhvdwath/.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

In the first episode of 2025, we want to start the year playfully! Together with playfulness expert Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, we talk about what playfulness actually is, what adults can learn from children, how we can be more playful at work, and much more. Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry, a micellium company located in Switzerland that operates internationally. He is a professional with 26 years of experience in education, collective creativity, content co-creation, change-driven strategy, participation and community weaving with a passion for the democratization of minoritized and unrepresented cultural voices in the cultural arena. He founded Children’s Boards in different Museums of the world like the City of Arts and Sciences, Norrbottens Museums, HOTA-House of the Arts, and more recently Historisches Museum Saar, Museo of Solutions in Mumbai, Museum of Communication Bern, or Swiss National Museum-Château des Prangins.Jose is a member and advisor of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and Climate Action Community Task Force Member in the Europeana Foundation, one of the most comprehensive cultural platforms in Europe. He also advises leading social and cultural organizations and institutions, such as Haus der Bewegungen in Bern, MuseoSpace Foundation, or EIT Culture & Creativity as an external evaluator.If you are interested to know more about Jose's work, visit www.cultural-inquiry.com or find him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/jose-antonio-gordillo-martorell-28ab0727.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke with Dr. Tsisana Shamlikashvili, an international expert in alternative dispute resolution, mediator, lawyer, neurologist and psychologist. As a practicing mediator, Tsisana has vast experience in a wide range of cases from complicated cross-border commercial disputes to family conflicts, as well as intellectual property, workplace, financial, personal injury and medical malpractice disputes. Tsisana is a pioneer of mediation in Russia. In 2005 she founded the Center for Mediation and Law, which during the following years became the main force in the efforts to build necessary conditions for the successful implementation of mediation in the Russian Federation. In 2012 “The Russian Reporter” magazine named Tsisana Shamlikashvili among the top 100 most influential people in Russia and top 10 lawyers for her contribution to improving Russia’s legal system. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Tsisana has suspended her activities in Russia.In our conversation, I asked Tsisana why there is so much conflict among humans, what the main competences are to better deal with conflict and how to improve those skills. And the deeper we got into the core questions of interpersonal conflicts, the more fascinating it became to listen to Tsisana's insights and shared experience from her long career in mediation and dispute resolution. In the end, it became clear that human conflict is inevitable - and therefore, it is even more important what we make out of it. For those interested in reading more of Tsisana's work, here is a selection of her published books: “Mediation as a Method of Out-of-court Dispute Resolution” (2006), “Management of Difficult Decisions in the XXI Century: Secrets of Building Consensus, or How to Make Everybody Content” (2009, co-authored by Larry Susskind and A. Demchuk), “Why Does a Child Find Difficulties in Schooling and How to Help Him” (2010, co-authored by O. Semenova), “Mediation as ADR Method. Focusing on Judges” (2010), “The ABC’s of Mediation” (2011, co-authored by S. Tashevsky) and “Introduction to Dialogics” (2011, co-authored by E. Nikitina).This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, my guest was Fabian Grauel, an Agile Coach, Design Thinker, Scrum Master and Innovation Consultant with working experience at Deutsche Bank, PwC, launchlabs and various other places.In our conversation with Fabian, we talked about how teams and organizations can improve cooperation and innovation at the workplace. How can coaches, facilitators and consultants support people in achieving better results together? What role can agile approaches play in today's working world? And what are the most promising paths for innovation?Through our shared fascination for design thinking and gamification, Fabian and I once again realized the power of breaking up our own mental patterns and see things from new perspectives. In addition to that, Fabian also presented his latest project: Applying his vast expertise from innovation processes to the sustainability sector, he argues that the next stage after "human-centered" approaches is "planet-centered".This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Juan Camilo Herrera, a distinguished legal academic and now director of Greystone Consulting Group Latinoamérica in Bogotá, Colombia.Juan provided interesting insights about his career shift from academia to consulting, what makes it special to work in Latin America after spending many years abroad, and what foreigners should know when doing business in Latin America and cooperating with Latin American partners.Juan did not only share the taste of his Colombian coffee, but also a first impression of the many things to consider when collaborating across borders or establishing professional activities in Latin America. And he definitely stimulated the appetite to interact more with this huge and fascinating region.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

What is the right temperature for keeping offices warm? How to connect with your colleagues without wifi? And can good lighting improve our view on complex business problems? Facility management deals with all of these highly important aspects of our daily work. That is why we took the time to talk about it with Mario Fernandez, who works as a Data Analyst and Market Researcher in Facility Management. In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, Mario shared some deep insights into the world of working environments. We talked about how facility management impacts the way we work, the connection between work culture and office design and what makes workspaces great (again) after the Covid-19 pandemic.Besides his impressive knowledge of workplace requirements, Mario also offered some easy (and cheap!) steps that make any workplace better. My main takeaway of our conversation: If you didn't think about facility management as a crucial aspect of cooperation and conflict at work before, you will definitely have another perspective after this episode. This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

Dr. Mark Young is a Negotiation Expert and the President of Rational Games Inc., a company that teaches negotiation using playful methods. Together with Mark, we talked about his interest in negotiation, the purpose of his work and the reasons why people need negotiation skills. Mark explained the difference between good and bad negotiators, why he thinks the urge to play is greater than the urge to fight, and what negotiation has to do with dancing. Finally, Mark also gave some useful insights on how to deal with egoistic people, what it takes to achieve "win-win solutions" and where to start if you want to improve your negotiation skills. Interested to learn more about Mark's work? Check out the Rational Games website at https://www.rationalgames.com.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, we talked with Prof. Dr. Claude-Hélène Mayer about the chances and challenges of intercultural relationships - both in professional and private contexts. Claude-Hélène Mayer is a Professor in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of Johannesburg, a Board member of the International Academy of Intercultural Research and holds Doctoral degrees in Psychology, Management and Cultural Anthropology. Claude's research and published books include a wide range of topics related to culture, such as transcultural mental health, transcultural conflict management and mediation, women in leadership, shame and love across cultures, humor research, psychobiography and several more. In addition to her academic career, Claude also works as a Psychologist, Management Consultant, Systemic Therapist, Mediator and Intercultural Specialist for international professionals, companies and family businesses. In our conversation, we talked about the importance of intercultural competence, how different cultures deal with conflicts and whether love and empathy work the same way around the world. I asked Claude about the role of shame in our professional world, what cross-cultural research tells us about how to deal with mistakes and failures, and whether there is some sort of "international code" for being funny. And besides sharing a huge amount of insights about culture, Claude also gave some valuable practical advice for anyone interested in improving their intercultural skillset - which can be immediately applied at work as well as in romantic love relationships.You find more information about Claude and her work on the website of the University of Johannesburg at https://www.uj.ac.za/members/prof-claude-helene-mayer/This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

Tobias Vollmer is a Senior Director at RAEDAS, a global corporate investigations and dispute resolution consultancy based in London. He focuses on evidence gathering in support of international litigation and arbitration. Tobias routinely works on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes spanning the Commonwealth of Independent States, the MENA region, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In this episode of cooperate culture, I asked Tobias whether he is a true detective, whether commercial conflicts are always about money and what are the biggest factors for successful conflict resolution in the field of international business. We talked about the net value of dogs, the role of embarrassing information in negotiating agreement, and why it really makes sense to travel to the Bahamas. And we discovered that even when it comes to numbers and paperwork, human psychology plays a key role in any conflict.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

Born and raised in India, Rudrani Banerjee is a qualified commercial lawyer and researcher with working experience in financial institutions, law firms, NGOs and public institutions in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Rudrani's additional studies and professional stays in Hungary and Germany enable her to provide some unique insight into the cultural landscape of India, diversity in European workplaces as well as the chances and challenges of adapting to new environments. In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, we talked about Rudrani's work and life in India, the many differences inside the country and what role culture actually plays at the workplace. We discussed the peculiarities of cultural transitions, what it really means to be well-travelled and how to create an inclusive and safe environment for multicultural collaboration. And while searching for specific cultural differences, we found out that what matters most might be something completely different.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to learn more.

Ruslan Sharipov is an international lawyer from Russia who worked at the European Court of Human Rights since the start of the war in Ukraine. Even after the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe, Ruslan continued working for the Russian section for one and a half years - finding himself in a strange situation where his country of origin is at war with another member of the organization he is working for.In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, Ruslan talks about his perspective on intercultural cooperation in times of war, his experiences working in an international organization and his thoughts about what Russian culture really means in his professional life. We discussed how multicultural cooperation feels, whether he faced discrimination as a Russian and why Americans always seem so happy. And we realized that maybe, people are not that different from each other, after all.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit www.emtsev.com to learn more.

In the second episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I talked with Kalina Hristova-Tréhet about her work at Eurocatering - her family's own sandwich business and one of the leading Bulgarian companies in the industry.Kalina had a very interesting career path that allowed her to explore many different professional sectors and roles. Until at some point, she decided to return to Bulgaria and join the family business. In our podcast, she explained why.During our discussion, Kalina did not only touch on many relevant aspects for anyone working in a family context, but also gave inspiring insights that can be valuable for everyone interested in improving cooperation, reducing conflict and developing culture at work. We talked about the meaning of work, genuine professional motivation and overcoming your ego. And we discovered how unexpected life can be - in private and in business. The history of Kalina's family business is one great example of that.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit www.emtsev.com to learn more.

In the first episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I talked with Nicolas Synnott about his perspectives on working culture, leadership and teamwork in East Africa. Having his professional roots in the Canadian start-up world, Nicolas now looks back on several years of working experience on the African continent. He is currently the Chief of Staff at East African Power, a renewable energy company based in Rwanda. Before that, he was based in Uganda and Gabon.In our discussion, we did not only touch on issues of cooperation and conflict at work, but also discussed the future of Africa in a globalized economy, the astonishing development of Rwanda and Nic’s perspective and challenges as a Westerner leading an African company. Hopefully, this conversation provides some insight and inspiration for leaders, managers, employees and everyone else who is interested in making work a better place.This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Visit www.emtsev.com to learn more.