Hacking GEN-Y | Yentl Delanhesi | TEDxUnisinos

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

"To leave the comfort zone". The expression, that already sounds worn out, has gotten a new dimension with the talk given by Yentl Delanhesi.
She was received with silver honors, since she is a former graduate of the Digital Communications course at Unisinos. With the resourcefulness of a veteran speaker, she showed what she was all about right from the beginning: "My talk is about something I've been experiencing, not only in my professional researches on the Millennials, but also as a representative of the Generation Y."

Yentl comes from different areas of expertise, but all supplementary. For years she has worked as a strategic planner and information architect for local, regional and global projects for the main multinational companies in Brazil. She lives in the United States, where she combines her sensibility and her planning skills, conceptualizing and executing projects related to education, art and innovation.
She is currently spending some time in Brazil, residing in the Inhotim Park, in Belo Horizonte, where she develops a strategic project for the site.

See more: http://www.tedxunisinos.com.br/blog/yentl-delanhesi/#sthash.Fctar0OF.dpuf

Hello!

What I am about to tell you
is nothing epic,

not a big project or idea,

not anything that will break a paradigm
in 15 minutes,

which is the time
I'll spend talking to you.

My talk is much more about a process,

a discovery.

Something that, at the same time
that has been the object of my research,

also has been something I've been feeling

and truly experiencing in my daily basis.

Everything starts when I, a specialist,

but also a representative
of the Generation Y,

-- which will manage
and take care of the planet

in a very near future --

realized two things:

first, that I am, that I can,

and I that I have to be normal.

And, second:

to think about a retirement plan
means to plan about the past,

mine and the world's.

By the time I realized
that in theory and practice,

I noticed, as you also may have,

that this contradicts three
of the main characteristics

the specialists assign to the Gen-Y.

Number one: that we think we are special.

Number two: that we only work
and do things that are pleasant to us

or that we like.

And, third: that we are consumerists

and the things we possess
already represent who we are.

And the specialists are correct about it.

Even more when they
say that those three attributes

are the cause for the constant
frustration the Gen-Y feels.

What I have been discovering, learning,

is that exactly when we subvert

each one of those codes,

when we hack each one
of those characteristics,

that is the moment when we find
the real potential of things, projects,

environments and, maybe, of ourselves.

So, I invite everyone to be a hacker,

being a Gen-Y or not,

to subvert the first code,
that is to "feel special".

When we come off the pedestal,

we automatically make amends
with the world and with ourselves.

First, because the expectations

that the world and we
have of ourselves disappear.

That allows us, then, to fail,

to ask for help, to experiment,

to say, "I don’t know"...

The most beautiful thing to me
about stepping off the pedestal,

about making this move,

is that we stop demanding and expecting
recognition from the world.

We don't expect attention,
comfort and readiness from others.

We stop thinking that our well-being
is someone else's job.

With that, comes responsibility.

By the time I see
myself as common being,

with that comes a sense of community.

It means that I belong to a group,

in which I am free,

but I'm also very dependent on the others,

and they are also totally dependent on me.

The second code to be hacked,

is about only working on things
we like, appreciate and enjoy.

First of all, that does not exist,

mainly because, nowadays, it is hard
to get in tune with our inner voice.

There is so much noise, superficialities,

and expectations surrounding us.

It's hard to decode what we really want.

I had an experience in my life,

when I had been planning for a few years,

already having a thriving career,

but I couldn’t help feeling frustrated.

Neither myself, nor anyone,
could find explanation for that.

In order to understand that,
I made a brave move

and I ejected myself from that system.

As soon as I did it,
though I felt relieved,

I was quickly taken over
by an emptiness feeling.

It was as though I had found
a magic lamp, rubbed it,

and the genie asked me,
"What do you really want now?

You are free!"

I didn't know that answer.

I wish I had the certainty to say,

"Now I can be a singer,
which has always been my dream!"

"No, I've always wanted to be a biologist
and this is the time."

"I'll learn Mandarin and travel the world
because that's what I can do."

But no... still no answers.

My biggest learning was:

we don't solve frustration
by denying the system,

or the things we don’t like.

It's not departing from one extreme
and going to another,

or leaving a label and finding another
that will compensate for the previous one.

The move is to, generously and bravely,

accept and penetrate the system,

into what is common, ordinary, normal…

By doing that, we learn how it works.

We get the knowledge to properly
break it into pieces and subvert it.

Once based on our good intentions,

those pieces from the system
that we subvert,

we are able to rebuild
our own microsystem.

We can change our routine,
our way of interacting with other people.

Since we're part of a big net,
in a big engine,

whenever we deconstruct our little world

and genuinely start rebuilding it,

the pieces around us also start
organising themselves organically.

A potential chain reaction.

When we go to the third code,

to be hackers and deconstruct it,

we talk about the consumerism.

I don’t think it is a bad thing.

It's only unhealthy
when the consuming process

works as a shield against the world,

as visual shields,
like things I buy and possess

that tell the world
the way I want to be perceived.

But also emotional shields,

when exchanging "moneys"
for "things" works as a shortcut

to cover my emotional
and vulnerability issues,

that are so essential
for anyone’s personal growth.

[Some years ago],
I also had a great experience

when I moved from a big city
to a small town abroad

and I thought about my routine,
because in that phase of readaptation

we try to cling to things
that are basic for our well-being.

But soon I realized
that many of the things

I used to spend money with
were only to compensate old patterns

I'd never questioned,
but thought were basic.

How much did I have to pay
for an expensive gym

to compensate ten hours of sitting down
in front of a computer, in the office,

with the AC on?

Or how much did I have to spend
with doctors and medicines

to treat my gastritis when I was the one
not eating well and all stressed out?

Or how much did I have to pay for clothes
because I didn't want to repeat outfits?

But I was the one who used
to go to the same places,

and meet always the same people!

Or how much time did I spend
and saved money

to go on amazing vacations

when I was the one
who used to spend 11 months

working and thinking about projects
that were not exciting to me?

It's very interesting to do this exercise
because it is not about cutting costs

or reducing the budget.
That comes as a consequence.

In fact, that shows us that a mindful,
simpler and more minimalistic life

can be richer,
more abundant and efficient.

When we do that, we get our freedom back,
we feel lighter and independent;

we can easily transit and flow through
new projects, experiences, and places.

In this new model,
the currency is different.

So, when I started realizing

that I could hack some
programming codes about who I was,

and during those hard moments
I was feeling fulfilled,

I started to perceived a new lifestyle.

These three codes, in a way,

I always checked whenever
I had to make a decision

in my everyday life.

Those same values that helped me
to adjust my focus [on the world],

making me sensitive
to recognize, attract and create

the opportunities I wanted to embrace.

And these were the values
that helped understand

the new metrics and indicators for:
what makes someone successful?

What makes a process successful?

And also a new definition for "wealth":
what does it mean to be "rich"?

When I realized that a new lifestyle
was getting into shape in front of me,

it was also turning me into
a more ethical, aesthetical,

processual and ecological human being,
but not because it was trendy,

or based on an ideology,
a ready-made label.

The reason is:
that's the way the game works.

It's a requirement and a consequence.

The moment I start living by those values,
I become more ethic,

because I am aware of the autonomy
and dependence on all elements.

Even if the people surrounding me
are not in the same game,

the moment I understand that
I have to be transparent and responsible,

that I should think
and not try to compensate,

I realize that things become much easier
and more gratifying.

Trying to play smart in this system
means wasting energy and time.

One minute I'll be confabulating about
the best way to take advantage of others,

and the next,
I'll be defensive and suspicious,

because someone
will be taking advantage of me.

I become mindful about
aesthetics and processes,

because more than valuing a single
final product or an accomplishment,

we begin to appreciate
the beauty of the process itself.

We add a fourth dimension
to each word spoken and heard,

to each project [we do], each journey...

This fourth dimension is the time
and not its speed,

but the time as a process, a story.

When we observe each thing
and try to understand its meaning,

and how it got there,

we open a way to innovation,
to creativity and collaboration.

We become more connected to nature.

Nowadays, we go straight to Google
when we have a question,

but nature is
the most advanced technology.

It has been 4.5 billion years
of success and failure,

trial and error.

Nature is the most advanced technology,
it's a library!

If we are talking about nature,
transformation and evolution,

nature itself teaches us:

it is the environment that
determines who will survive.

And though I'm still young, this is maybe
the tip I want to give to you,

because that's what my story
has been teaching me.

If we really want to make
any kind of change,

or trace new paths,

we ought to put ourselves in environments

that will be constantly inspiring us
and putting us up to the test.

As a Gen-Yer, it hurts to admit
that those environments

must not be comfort zones.

To get out of those zones doesn't mean
to make the decision and talk about it,

and it will vanish in a second
and a new life appears in front of us.

It's a trade, actually,
of a frustration feeling,

combined with predictability and comfort,

for a new combo of feelings
of dedication, vulnerability,

responsibility, but lots of achievements.

In practice, changing jobs or cities
won’t be enough to force that decision.

It needs to be felt, encouraged

every single day,
maybe while you brush your teeth.

Moving from São Paulo to Miami,

or moving from Los Angeles to a small town
in the rural area of Brazil,

in an Art Museum
is just part of a big choice.

What's relevant is our decision about
what sort of stimulus, people

and experiences we are willing to face
in that specific moment [of our lives].

Then, to love that decision,
because the moment we love our decisions,

we instantly get a package
filled with pleasures and problems.

The moment we love that package
of our eventual experiences,

we carry it as a backpack
throughout our new paths,

and those things lose
their good or bad connotations.

They start to be seen as opportunities
so we can interact, learn, teach,

have new stories to tell,
and make new friends.

By loving the pleasures and problems
of our choices,

we allow ourselves
to be constantly modified

as well as to modify the places

and the people we interact with
along the way.

That's why planning my retirement
doesn't make much sense to me.

Why investing the resources
and energy I have now

in a package of problems and pleasures

that will I only experience
in a few decades from now?

In fact, the concern
is about not the retirement itself,

but about that gap between
what I plan and envision now,

and the moment
I will actually experience it.

It was after that hard realization,
that I started designing and truly

living my retirement plan,

which means, letting go of some patterns
to genuinely find my well-being.

I believe that by embracing
that perspective

I, automatically,
reverberate that to those next to me,

and demanding it from them.

This is will be a transformation
for you, for others

and, as a result,
we can achieve the common good.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)