Why the right mindset is the key to dealing with change.
Did you know that over 40,000 people have experienced Hyper Island?
For over 25 years thousands of people from all over the world have experienced the Hyper Way of learning. They’ve enjoyed the transformational power of learning by doing, reflection, and collaborative work.
Once they graduate from one of our programs, they complete a course, or they finish a company-wide transformation experience, Hyper Island alumni become drivers of change.
They realize this is the hardest possible job anybody could volunteer for, but they thrive in change. They look for the opportunity and make change happen.
These Alumni stories of change, doubt, loneliness, and triumph are the threads that weave the human experience, reminding us that our journeys are both unique and universally shared.
I’m Sara Montes, I’m from Portugal, and I moved to Sweden to work for IKEA six years ago. I didn’t know anyone, but I really loved IKEA, so I thought, “Why not have this Swedish experience?”
My journey with Hyper Island began in a corporate setting when Hyper came to IKEA to inspire us to embrace co-creation, a project I was leading at the time. I was exploring how we could co-create with our customers and involve them in every stage of development. At that time, it was a complex process because we had been in the furniture business for 80 years. Designers and development teams had a well-established process and were resistant to change. So, we enlisted the help of Hyper Island. We had two sessions facilitated by Hyper, each lasting a week. We went to Stockholm, and a team from Hyper Island came to us. During these sessions, we focused on customer-centric design, design principles, and how to introduce new layers of change.
Our first week with Hyper in Stockholm allowed us to unblock certain issues that we were having just getting started. So it was at the beginning of the process, and it made a huge difference. That was kind of my first impression of Hyper; I didn’t know Hyper before; “they’re good, you know,” that’s what I thought.
At the beginning of last year, I realized that I had spent five years at IKEA. While Sweden had been generous to me, I felt something was missing. IKEA is a well-established company where one can easily spend their entire career due to the welcoming environment and numerous growth opportunities. However, I believed that becoming too comfortable was not a positive sign.
I didn’t want to look back and realize that I had spent 15 years in the same country, in the same organization, surrounded by the same type of people. I wanted to challenge myself.
During a three-week vacation in Thailand for my birthday, I decided to create momentum for change. I didn’t want to focus on upskilling through platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn, which I felt didn’t provide substantial value. While I loved reading and drawing inspiration from exploration and research, I wanted to earn a meaningful certification.
On my birthday, January 12th, I visited the Hyper Island website and explored their courses. That’s when I discovered “Strategize Like a Futurist,” a course on future studies and forecasting, looking 10–15 years ahead. It seemed perfect, so I booked a call with them after my return. Although the application deadline had passed, they allowed me to enroll.
And that was the moment that changed everything.
The course was really great. And it did exactly for me as it had done five years before for our project. It changed my mindset and prepared me for my next step. After completing the “Strategize Like a Futurist” course, I was invited to join another course, a CX Design course by Hyper Island in North America. Given my role in global customer experience at IKEA, they thought my perspective and examples from IKEA would be valuable.
Right at the same time, I was invited to interview with Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry company, which ultimately led to my career change.
The only meaningful thing I did in this process of change was deciding that I wanted to change something.
I joined a futurist course, which had nothing to do with my current assignment, yet had everything to do with it.
There’s incredible power in taking a step towards change when you need it. Trust that things will fall into place in a good way. That’s my story.”
I recently embarked on a new journey at Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry company. They approached me earlier in the summer with an innovative idea to change the company’s culture. Despite being 40 years old, they recently underwent an IPO and they changed the board, the values, and the teams.
A few years ago, when the new CEO assumed leadership, they recognized that the brand wasn’t as strong as desired, and people didn’t necessarily excel in their roles.
Many companies focus on upskilling their teams, especially in leadership and marketing, but to me, the most interesting challenge is the company’s culture.
I’ve seen the impact of a strong culture on people, and it’s such a clear north star of values and behaviors that I’m a strong advocate for building a strong company culture.
Great organizations and teams have a strong culture where people feel they belong. It’s more than just work; it’s a culture where people feel that in the future they will ultimately become better human beings
I believe Hyper Island is exceptional in one unique way: the essence of Hyper Island is different for all of us, but it’s the same for all of us.
And it's not just because of its methods but also in its selection of people to run courses and programs. Whatever it may be, everyone associated with Hyper Island exudes a different vibe when you interact with them or seek their guidance. It’s distinct from the atmosphere you’d encounter in a traditional or academic institution. I consider this power to be significant because Hyper Island offers a deeper level of insight and knowledge compared to traditional institutions.
When we contemplate possible futures, the Nordics stand out as a unique region unlike any other in the world. Hyper Island’s location in Sweden has shaped a distinctive future for its students compared to the possibilities in countries like Spain, the US, Portugal, and Brazil.
I strongly believe that when we discuss potential futures and the incredible opportunities they present, there should be a significant focus on how to create better futures with feminism in mind. I consider myself a hardcore feminist, and this isn’t about positive discrimination or exclusive courses for women; it’s about integrating sustainable thinking about the future into the very core of our systems. It’s about normalizing diversity instead of perpetually highlighting our differences. When we normalize these differences, we all become better.
For me, the fundamental question is: How can we work towards a future where our companies, organizations, society, and ourselves are more empathetic towards each other’s differences? I’m referring to sustainable futures here, a topic of immense significance.
This responsibility is even greater for organizations like Hyper Island because they have the power to reshape mindsets.
I’ve witnessed this transformation among my colleagues; I’ve seen how some of them remain captivated by ideas from presenters, guest speakers, or theories from the courses.
This is what made my own change process so impactful, because once you acquire the right mindset you can endure the most difficult change process.
Sara Montes lives currently in Sweden but she is literally on her way to Denmark, where Pandora’s headquarters are located.
