Never before in history, have we had so much “streamlining”, „efficiency” and “digitalization” with a promise of releasing more time for the core task – and never before have we spent more time on unnecessary things than now. At least according to Dennis Normark who together with philosopher Anders Fogh Jensen in 2018 publishes the book „Pseudowork – how we ended up being busy, doing nothing‟. Based on interviews, statistics and research, Normark focuses on all the unnecessary tasks we fill the working hours with. All those meetings, reports, emails, registrations, PowerPoint presentations, metrics, policies and other self-employed tasks that prevent us from creating value, innovating and, above all, creating a meaningful working day.

Watch Normark on stage

Normarks talks and books are a provocative and eye-opening insight into the tasks we waste each other’s time with, and the simple changes employees and managers can implement to pull the rug away under administrative redundancy and delusions about what is actually important.

We are all busy, but what are we really busy with?

Hierachies and old fashined command and control management, are not delivering the results they used to do. And maybe they never really have. Research into how our hunter-gatherer ancestors and current ingenious people handle leadership has provided new insights into the type of leadership most people prefer: A leadership that is not only more benign, create stronger work communities and show more empathy, but also delivers better results, with more freedom, less corporate red tape and more meaningful and productive work.

In his, and fellow anthropologists Christian Groes’ bestselling book, “I wish my boss was a chief – how we get the leaders we deserve”, Dennis Normark argues that the future of leadership lies in the past. That human society are naturally adapted to a different type of leaders, than the ones we sadly often end up having.

In his talk Normark presents his research, the principles behind leading like a chief with inspiration from modern successful role models.  He shows how organizations can make room for chiefs, get rid of tyrants and create results through strong collaboration instead of destructive competition.

Dennis Normark is a well-known and highly sought-after Nordic based speaker. He is available for bookings throughout the world – online and offline.

Watch Normark on stage

His talks are a provocative and eye-opening insight into the tasks we waste each other’s time with, and the simple changes employees and managers can implement to pull the rug away under administrative redundancy and delusions about what is actually important.

Talk 1: Pseudowork – How did we end up being busy doing nothing.
Talk 2: Leading like a Chief – discovering the long forgotten principles of leadership
Talk 3: The tyranny of low expectations and the powerful potential of self-mastering – setting people free at work

2025/02/03:

I am looking forward to be a keynote speaking at THE WOLRD KNOWLEDGE FORUM in Seoul, September 9-11th 2025 in Seoul.

2025/02/01:

My bestseller, PSEUDOWORK, will be published in Japan in May 2025 with the Japanese title:
“ISOGASHIINONI TAIKASURU HITOTACHI: YATTABUN DAKE SEICHOSURU HITO SHINAI HITO” – English rough translation: “BUSY BUT REGRESSING: People Who Grow by How Much They Have Done And Those Who Don’t”. The book is published by Sunmark Publishing

2025/01/30:

Once again I will be heading to the Faroe Islands to do deliver a workshop in Leading Like a Chief (Gævi mín leiðari var høvdingi), for Synergi in Torshavn. Please sign up here

Dennis Normark is a well-known and highly sought-after Nordic based anthropologist, international bestselling author and speaker. He works with international organizations such as Novo Nordisk, PWC, Fuji, IBM, L’Oreal, Microsoft, MSD, Shell, Smith + Nephew, Takeda, Vattenfall, Leo Pharma, Deloitte, Coloplast, Oticon, Roche, Maersk, Novozymes etc.

He is the author to 9 books – both non-fiction and fiction – focusing on culture, leadership, organizations and modern work.