Translation: Speech by Prof. Dr. Michael Gielnik

Dear graduates,

dear families and friends,

Many of you know that I am a psychologist, so let’s take a psychological approach: Be fully present. Look around you. Take a deep breath and savor this moment. You’ve made it. The stress of the past few weeks, the final exams and deadlines, your thesis – all of that is behind you. Today you stand here, and you have every reason to be proud of yourselves.

You are leaving this university today with a diploma in hand. A document that certifies in black and white: “I have finished.”

And my most important piece of advice to you today is this: Don’t believe what this document says. You’re not done yet.

Don’t get me wrong – your graduation is a huge achievement. But it’s not the end. It’s the starting point for a very important project in your life: continuing to learn – for the rest of your life. And ideally, you’ll learn not from your successes, but from your failures and mistakes.

In psychology, we owe a fundamental insight to our colleague Michael Frese. People and organizations can deal with mistakes in two ways: There is “error prevention” – the attempt to prevent mistakes at all costs. And there is “error management orientation”– the focus on managing mistakes.

Trying to avoid mistakes entirely stifles innovation. Why? Because striving to avoid mistakes at all costs means we end up doing only what we’ve already mastered perfectly. We stop taking risks. We stop learning anything new.

The Error Management Orientation, on the other hand, accepts an undeniable reality: Wherever people act, mistakes happen. Who knows how many mistakes I’ve already made in the first two minutes of my speech ... But what matters isn’t that a mistake happens, but how we act afterward. It’s about preventing a cascade of errors and making quick corrections. You know how it goes: A small mistake happens, you try to cover it up, end up making the next mistake, and eventually everything goes up in flames. But above all, it’s about one thing: learning from the mistake. Mistakes cause us to reflect on our decisions and actions and gain a deeper understanding. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes – and above all, take the time to learn from them. In fact, it’s not about “fail fast, fail often”… it’s about “learn fast, learn often.”

You have acquired a great deal of knowledge during your studies. Much of it may have been difficult to understand or learn. However, it is far more difficult to let go of old beliefs. Our brain loves efficiency. It loves heuristics, routines, habits, and automatic responses. When we believe we have understood everything, we stop asking questions. From a psychological perspective, lifelong learning therefore requires one fundamental quality: intellectual humility. The ability to say, “I don’t know (yet).” Or, even more courageously, “I was wrong.” Have confidence in your own ability to possess this fundamental quality.

“I’m done” is also wrong, because then you stop being active, setting goals, and tackling and shaping new projects. Some of you have attended my entrepreneurship courses. You know that entrepreneurship isn’t necessarily about starting a new company. Entrepreneurship is much broader. It means creating something new from scratch, recognizing an opportunity for positive change, and putting it into action. In other words, the exact opposite of “being done.” It also means enduring the uncertainty that comes with the new. At its core, entrepreneurship is nothing more than applied psychology under conditions of uncertainty. It means courageously leaping into the unknown, with the firm naivety that you’ll learn to fly along the way. So please hold on to a little naivety – it helps you tackle new things while knowing that you’re only at the beginning and still have much to learn.

“Not being finished” also means being able to try new things. I was in your shoes 21 years ago – on the graduates’ side. Back then, I swore to myself: I’d go out into the business world, work, never go back to college … and look where I’ve ended up today. By the way, that was the best decision of my life. But have I regretted going into the business world first? Certainly not. I learned a great deal. For the first time, I took on real responsibility for projects and learned to work clearly and efficiently. I made some major blunders when I completely miscalculated budgets, and I met wonderful people who are still my friends today.

Breaking new ground and trying new things doesn’t mean being inconsistent; it means learning and growing. There’s just one thing you should keep in mind: When you try something new, do it with all the intensity it requires. Don’t just dip your toes in here and there half-heartedly – please commit with the necessary intensity each time. That’s the only way to find out if the new thing truly resonates deep inside you. If you’ve attended my events, you know: passion for a topic isn’t usually the starting point. Passion for a topic arises when you engage with it intensively, try to master a topic or field, achieve small successes, and realize that you’re developing and improving. All of that requires effort and intensity. And then the passion will follow – I can guarantee you that.

So, I’ve covered everything I wanted to cover. A little psychology, a little error management, entrepreneurship, and passion. Where does that leave us? Use the combination of it all – the psychology and drive of entrepreneurship, error management, and passion – to make a positive impact on society. Ask yourself: “Why do we actually do things this way? Can’t we do it better, more sustainably, more humanely?” Build organizations where we learn from the mistakes of the past and make our world a better place to live.

And for you personally: Don’t lose your childlike naivety. Read books outside your field of expertise. Talk to people who have a different worldview than you. In entrepreneurship, we speak of Knowledge Sourcing Breadth. Broad knowledge and broad thinking – which may contradict my assumptions – allow me to further develop new ideas.

And I am convinced that you have mastered this broad way of thinking. It is the foundation of the university where you studied. Leuphana is a place of wide-ranging exchange. During orientation week, throughout the Leuphana semester, and through the complementary studies program, you were, so to speak, forced to engage with other perspectives. You may have wondered what the point of it all was. Why should I debate here with people who are as far removed from my field of study as possible? The answer is: The Leuphana model, the complementary studies – all of this was designed precisely for this “not-being-finished.” It was meant to force you to leave your comfort zone and shift your perspective. Here, you’ve learned that the major problems of our time don’t adhere to the boundaries of academic departments. You were meant to learn to think outside the box. And it is precisely this Leuphana idea of interdisciplinary thinking that you should now carry with you on your journey ahead.

So when you raise your glass tonight, don’t celebrate being done with learning. Celebrate the beginning of a lifelong journey of discovery. I believe you have the tools, the heart, and the mind for it. Don’t be done. Keep learning.

Well, and now I’m done.

Congratulations on your graduation! Thank you very much.