"In the long run you have to become an observer of yourself"

Cognitive performance is not a static state, explained Klaus Dürrbeck in his presentation. In every person, there is a connection between the state of arousal and the "cognitive performance". Generally speaking, it can be said that there is an individual minimum level for a person that is required in order to be able to use his or her maximum potential, according to Dürrbeck. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that this state is unstable and cannot be maintained permanently. In this context, it was important for Klaus Dürrbeck to emphasize: "Energy management is more important than time management."

The event aimed to raise awareness among prospective founders about their own performance and potential employees. The lecture was organized by the Hochschule der Medien (HDM), the Technologie Transfer Initiative (TTI) and the Institute for Entrepreneurship (ENI) of the University of Stuttgart.

Furthermore, the lecture dealt with different "performance types". In order to remain high-performing, each person has different needs, he said. People who require a low level of arousal to be performant need different framework conditions than people with a higher arousal requirement, he said. "It has nothing to do with whether the person is extroverted or introverted, or how stress-resistant they are," Dürrbeck emphasized. At the same time, he goes on to say that many people are unfortunately often up- or down-graded in this regard. According to Dürrbeck, it is much more important to be aware of which needs have to be met for personal maximum performance.

This was followed by an interesting intermediate discussion, in which the question arose as to whether classifying employees according to performance type was a good thing? Dürrbeck replied that he saw this critically: "On the one hand, we need this to reduce complexity. On the other hand, it quickly creates camps. That's why it's important to focus on individual strengths, but not to reduce the person to these alone."

The rest of the lecture was about what strategies one could use to consciously control the state of arousal. In conclusion, it could be stated that, for example, through awareness training, conscious energy management is possible and leads to noticeably sustainable performance.

Text: Marcel Scharmach