Frederik Pferdt had worked with Google for 12 years as its first-ever chief innovation evangelist in California. Before he quit in 2024, Pferdt created the tech giant's Innovation Lab and co-founded the Google Garage, where he encouraged thousands of employees to experiment with fresh ideas. Those years, Pferdt told CNBC Make It, changed how he approached his work and daily routine. It helped him and others “build a culture of innovation” at the company.
In his recent book, What’s Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready, Pferdt shares his top three lessons that aren’t just useful for tech workers: They can help anyone “live a more meaningful life,” he said.
1.) Embracing a ‘Yes, and’ mentality
People often opt for a more negative outlook, “finding arguments why something wouldn’t work,” Pferdt said. “Most of our time we spend time saying ‘No, but,’ right? If you turn that around and have a little bit more of a ‘Yes, and’ mentality -- and, that is inspired by improv theater, obviously -- it really changes the dynamic of your conversations [and] of the teams you’re working on.”
2.) Visualize your future self
Pferdt, who also spent 10 years as an adjunct professor of design thinking at Stanford University, said that leaders at Google encourage picturing an ideal, successful version of yourself and then identifying realistic steps to get there.
“Really try to envision how you want to be in the future,” he told CNBC Make It. “That is very powerful, because that really helps you with understanding where you actually want to go and influences your choices in the moment.”
3.) Spend time with yourself
Google has long encouraged employees to meditate and even offered them courses on mindfulness. Meditating every day helps to keep him open to new ideas and steer away from negativity, Pferdt said.
“From time to time, spend time within yourself,” he added. “It is really critical, because otherwise you’re just driven by your autopilot and your reactions instead of your responses. Our reactions are usually negative, they’re closed, they’re non-empathetic, they’re full of hate [and] blaming. Moving away from these is only possible if you do mindful practices.”
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