You've dreamed it, you've done it
Photographer Christopher Sardegna
A story about lived life.
After many thousands of listeners and readers, and now with more or less freely available AI (artificial intelligence) entering the public scene, the text below has been modified to correct English grammar, which I was unable to produce at the time of this blog post's publication on November 2, 2021.
Just a few weeks after that, I took new significant steps in my life. I came out as a political commentator on Facebook. This may lead some to believe that what I am writing here is done for political reasons. And the answer to that is absolutely no. The podcast remains unchanged, but perhaps I should apologize for that due to grammatical reasons. But, I'm not apologizing in that context either; you'll simply have to bear with a bit of Norwegian-English in that one. However, as I will mention in both the podcast and blog post, given the context of the world's changes over the last few years, since the pandemic began, I must emphasize that this update to the blog post is absolutely non-political and non-religious.
About and by Anne Solheim
Podcast
Hello! And thank you for the opportunity you gave me to offer a new so-called ego presentation, first and foremost, to Rotary.
Some of you are familiar with my name. Some of you know I have shown a two-minute video about my personal life. But the presentation then was too high-flying and short, not suitable to get to know me in a type of work context that is relevant here and now. But to keep the thread, this storytelling I do now also builds on the short video named "The founder of ACTA - Anne Brit Solheim, privately."
Now I will focus on some vital points connected to my work areas. And because I am a woman fully integrated into the men's business world, a senior, I will put it all in a global, historical, and family context and post some severe warnings.
It is fascinating for me to do this storytelling just now because I am also working on a book about my life. And that the fact is, my intention behind what I have done has been to help people, in a way, in the spirit of Rotary, though I was not a Rotarian then.
Today, we are living in an exceptional period, a time of pandemics and numerous other challenges affecting humanity. We are all gaining difficult experiences globally that affect everyone simultaneously. And to look at this and see me from my perspective in the middle of it is particular. I become humble and thoughtful.
But first: A lot of my social life during the pandemic has been through cyberspace. It is also the end of a period I have called "to do the impossible possible," related to my health. Over the last three years, I have focused on what I call "get the brain in shape again." And to manage that, I have done a lot. A part of it is writing a novel, creating a net course concept, and establishing a business with all operational facilities to work globally. A few products are made based on cyberspace, an essential global place in modern society. A place that is also the result of my colleague's and my everyday work over decades.
A personal health project organized as an international business was completed. Related to my competence otherwise and the settings in today's world, I have realized that it may be relevant to give out more information about myself than I already have.
Without planning, the business mentioned became closely tied to the consequences of the pandemic. Hard to imagine in the upstart three years ago. But today, so many lose hope and feel they are drowning in all the company's three areas: business, mentality, and physicality. Because of that, I think the market potential is there - but not the timing, which I am not to touch upon now. There are too many issues, and the market analysis work is connected.
The drowning mentioned got me to think of something I had not had in mind for a long time. It has to do with my competence. Because in my youth, I learned to be a lifeguard, to save people from drowning. So, I understand what it takes in strength, agility, power, and competence to save someone when it is about to drown "out there." But despite understanding the danger, your skill, and what you may contribute with - insight in your capacity tuned to the situation - the mindset you gain by giving yourself to others will always push you, stretch you, more than you initially dare to believe. And still, you are more familiar than most with what it takes; you have gained a mindset that is hard to bury. But "the now," or what is about to happen, is impossible to put into words. It is a volatile and uncertain situation. So related to business, I am in a modus I call "waiting, observing, evaluating."
Then to other parts of my history. You are about to gain insight into my career and aspects of my family history. I chose to expose family history because it provided the ground for my work-life in the high-tech business, even though many were dead decades before I was born.
It has been a unique task to compose this storytelling, taking into account extreme details and long lines, and expressing it in about 30 minutes. My story is also closely connected to an exceptional historical context in many ways, which is an impossibility seen from my forefathers. And then I must think of a man who hated me. He lost an international high-tech project to me - and screamed into my face: People like you do not exist! And to your understanding: This was not a discriminatory action. Just two equals signing a standard closed game related to our upbringing—one in extreme anger, expressing it, the other with a smile. Business is challenging with many expressed emotions, similar to sport, both related to preparation and implementation. And I prefer that part of it where so-called fair play is a basis. Discriminatory action is something else. That storytelling is also engaging for those who fancy that focus. Please start with the Atlantic Slave Trade and the prehistoric time before that, with what made it possible. That is also business, but fair play is not involved.
We, humanity, can create a dream society. We have the technology; we have the money; we nearly have everything. But do we have those guys with the necessary mindset - the physical brains - in position? In the meantime, the tech freaks do what they fancy. And only the tech people know when it is too late. Please note that they have issued their warnings since the 1990s, thirty years ago, in an environment that now expands and develops at an unprecedented speed. And if you think the atom bombs are a threat, what is coming up now is a million times more dangerous. As I see it, the only way for humanity to survive is through a mentality change, far above all the existing echo chambers, and it must be done quickly. Wake up is my advice.
Okay, now I will present my CV story without so-called namedropping, and it started when I took an unexpected step for many. I went from fashion design and the artist area to the high-tech environment, information, and telecom technology. That specific "jump" requires more than a book, so I only want to mention this unusual, huge step - because, after a while, I have become an expert on so-called turnarounds. It has been a lot of that in my life and career. Beneficial nowadays in most areas, and especially in business.
When I made that unusual choice, which many consider a huge step, information and telecom technology were about to enter an exciting new era. And my work was related to worldwide financial systems - to digitalize them. That led me to separate defence technology from business technology. And after a while, towards projects introduced electronic payment systems. We developed and introduced IT systems and terminals based on credit and debit cards, including expensive ones with microchips, and the cheaper but less secure solutions, which lacked the chip. And, of course, we implemented it all in the global systems, with security that prevents hackers from disrupting everything. A challenge above most because that segment of humanity has brains.
In the technical part of my career, I used years of my life to analyze algorithms down to the level of "bits and bytes." Binary codes, 0 and 1 in a system, and hexadecimal codes through Assembler, a low-level programming language. One of my grandchildren, who is on the way to a master's degree in Artificial Intelligence, tells me this is a type of work only rocket engineers deal with today. But then I did this and mainly kept track of it all —a necessary work when IT systems do not function on the ground level. To put it that way, "the place" between the iron and user applications – before repairing the ground level – so that life in cyberspace, through user applications, can continue again. Nowadays, applications such as Facebook or other social media platforms, and a vast number that have become even more vital, e.g., in hospitals, are present in almost every area of human life.
My focus on cryptical details, maintaining track of the wholeness, and understanding the consequences of variation on a deep and micro level in massive systems has considerably impacted my ability to interpret myself, the social space, and how it is functioning. That capacity has helped me throughout my life.
This type of work is on a highly detailed, mathematical, or scientific-oriented level. On the level of DNA, according to a human being. And it is not very functional in a story I want to present as a representation of myself or my work. More or less the same way as to show me by the sequence of genes in different chromosomes. But anyway, the code and knowledge related became essential to me, although most people see "things" – themselves, life, social media, or whatever in another way.
Strangely enough, systems built upon only two different numbers, 0 and 1, in a binary coding system, in various combinations of those numbers, can be the foundation of a lot in the part of the world that humanity has created. One example is the basis for pictures and letters that you can read or understand as a book. Then, through different types of applications, we can read another person's thoughts in a way. TO LEARN "THINGS" - at the same time all over the world! Many other examples help us understand what is happening simultaneously all over the globe. Related business, the intention behind messages, products, or services is to trigger the dopamine level in the brain, to sell as much as possible to someone out there.
Necessary actions to sell because that technique produces a particular emotion that sends the receiver into a specific loop, getting them addicted; even addiction to social media is a fact. The dopamine trick is a money generator for the creator. And related to politics, it is a vast industry related to this dopamine business. In my work field, the IT and telecom field, it is interesting to understand what Steve Jobs did; he actually created a global religion in almost no time. I recommend the movie about his life, called Steve Jobs. It's several of them, but this is the ONE that is relevant here in this context. See, this happens through a movie; perhaps then you will understand how to build up under polarization too, to gain power in different areas, such as business, a method that has been used as long as humanity has been on Earth. To understand THE WHAT OR WHY is the slogan now.
Life is interesting to observe if you ask me. And those who create a business based on an understanding of how humans or the brain function on this type of level, "the chemical substance level," will succeed if they understand the timing process. Back and forth, again and again, in loops, resulting in money to the sender. It's fascinating to learn about the mission to create businesses. I must also mention my fascination with the common understanding of how living humans function, based on autopsies of dead bodies. That fascination is more than enormous to me. It is, in short, about the management technique I have named "Divide and Conquer," creating an environment as incomplete and fragmented as possible and then ruling it.
But from ordinary irony to profound irony, on another deep level, parallel to computers, I know little about humans. In this area, from the tiniest details up to the system level.
On a deep level, humans, unlike computers, have more basic components I like to call almost parallel to the 0,1 level. This level contains twice as many features. There are four essential elements in this. These are the four bases, ATCG, related to the genes in DNA. Briefly said, those four fundamentals could become a human body with five senses, the most advanced system on earth. And we are "something" IT engineers of today - Artificial Intelligence engineers - who struggle to copy. A challenging mission, but we are becoming more and more able to understand that we are creators on that path. Because every person can channel creator skills and create, in the upstart process, based on only ideas, we often do not even know the origin. Other animals or other parts of nature, built up by DNA, do not do it the same way. They cannot do much creative work. In a way, they are born, eat, sleep, reproduce themselves, and die. In a way, they are programmed similarly as a never-ending, fine-tuned machine without intervention from us. We have named that system nature. And although we are a part of nature, we are very different. Humans can manage it. And if we are wise enough, do it to the best. Or, on the contrary, be deadly dangerous, just because of the perspective we use as the basis of our actions.
While speaking about nature and also cultivating it, by transforming a traditional farm into an ecological one, engaging in nature in other ways, especially in the ocean, and through education as a therapist, I have learned a lot about the fragmentary way humans think and have built up everything, especially relating to how humans think and treat sick people. I would be thrilled if you could show me so-called experts who think of the body as one living system. Just look around, and perhaps you will see. As I see it, it is a low common understanding of how functional systems, the law of nature, and the power in nature operate. In more or less every aspect of what humans engage in, not just related to body understanding, segregation, and poorly regulated hierarchies everywhere, based on outdated thought systems. Just because of the dominant mentality and "the management technique" named "Divide and Conquer." Best not to speak about it because then the fear is on.
Anyway, when I already focus on all these system "things," I want to add something I like to tell my AI grandchild: I was one of the first in Norway to implement AI technology in business. I did it in one of Europe's largest data centers. To get them to operate it smoothly, related to response time and availability requirements from the market. At that time, we referred to Artificial Intelligence as Expert Systems. That project became a game-changer for me. It taught me the most about humans ever. I understood, to my bones, how much personal fear there is, an understanding that became fundamental for me—also, understanding the thousands of expressions that this emotion, on automation related to upbringing, results in: hate, anger, jealousy, mobbing, wars, and you-name-it, how echo chambers in all hierarchies became a reality. And because of that understanding and my way of practicing leadership, I, some years later, got "a title," "A leader of the future," and I received a long-standing, free leadership education. Because then, I was a specialist manager for engineers and did not have a formal leadership education.
Strangely, this is all about 0 or 1, ATCG, on or off - it's about energy. Fundamentals, which is an indisputable fact that applies to all of us. Fundamental to getting anything in motion in all algorithms, including those we call life, but most of which neither see nor understand. Some cultures in prehistoric times even named this yin and yang, symbolized it in black and white, and some more. They even build their life based on that.
Parts of my history have become a quest for gaining knowledge that few possess, which is hard for most to understand and simultaneously transform into something useful in the broader context.
I have gained something rare: To understand "bits and bytes" levels in several areas and see the connection between them, or how they are parallel to each other at the depths, pointing out what prevents us from making personal breakthroughs to create sustainable growth worldwide. I have described it all in a modern way, through modern technology, and delivered it in easy-to-understand concepts to those who see the value to help themselves in their personal life. This is the nucleus of the business I talked about earlier in this blog post.
But here and now, enough details about everything, and the sum of it is related to systems. Now I want to present myself from another perspective. So, when I decided how to go deeper into that task and avoid being too private, I also ended up with the same mainline – or trail - as I rapidly showed in the mentioned short video. And through that, my life became an algorithm I can see clearly, which involves many more than me. Suddenly, I saw "things" in a new light, even a deeper connection to the castle, a landmark for me in more than one context, and my childhood house in Oslo, Norway. And because of that "new light," I now have the opportunity to introduce myself in a more extensive view, related to my family and history.
Because one of my hobbies is history, which helps me not to drown in detail when working, I will offer you a historical journey through some words to show a few glimpses related to me, relevant to today, mainly associated with what I have accomplished in my career. It is about how my ancestors lived their lives and how it impacted me on so many levels. It is a fantastic fact that what I have done, together with like-minded colleagues worldwide, has influenced and created new possibilities for humanity.
Perhaps this seems boastful or cryptic to people with other backgrounds than mine, especially those who do not know me. So, I will try to create a clear focus, as sharp as possible, to visualize development during a relatively short period in a historical context where we are all a tiny part. But first, I need to bring your attention a bit away from my family background and childhood, to a social revolt in my youth. A revolution, my ancestors - those who connect me to the castle and my childhood house - in a way had a hand in it without knowing it. But they had - through their mentality, professions, and artistic skills. As I see it now, some of those who did a kickoff make a new era come through. They started to create a new foundation and paved a path to a new type of society. And I continued, with all the effort I was able to make.
I am one of "the sixty-eighter." Because in the iconic year 1968, most of my friends started up at different universities. And as you probably know, at the end of the sixties, a cultural revolution took place, and it started among students. Social movements underwent significant changes in Europe and other regions as well. More than ever, a revolt that changed the culture, the art, and the women's rights movement accelerated. The fact is, life for most of us changed, apparently because of a student riot. And I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra said, because I had the foundation that gave me the strength and fearlessness to do what I did.
Revolts have turned my life upside down several times. Briefly said, I have had many extremes to handle in my life, which has made it necessary for me to continue with artistic works, like design, painting, and writing, to balance the consequences of those extremes. Because to do art is, in a way, meditation. And I have done a lot of reflection as well, especially around those who connect me to the two mentioned buildings, the castle and my childhood house, those who helped me grow up with four languages and taught me to communicate in different ways, interact in various settings, and feel comfortable in all levels of society.
My grandparents, who owned the childhood house you saw in the short video, came from the western part of Norway's farming culture. Their parents were among the richest in this area at that time. So, four brothers from one of those families became educated as teachers and married four sisters from one of the other wealthiest families. Those four couples moved to the capital of Norway to live their lives there. They primarily raised their families in Oslo and practised teaching. And one of the couples became my grandparents, my father's parents, the owners of my childhood house.
They and the other three families constituted a vast, extended family. And because they were teachers, they had long summer holidays every year. They took joint vacations in the western part of Norway at the largest farms there, enjoying fun, songs, and music after a three-day journey by horse and carriage over Norway's high mountains. A trip of approx. 600 km, which today is less than a day trip by car or 30 min. by plane. Strange! Seeing them in pictures is weird, too. They looked like what we in society today call hipsters.
All the children in this constitution: my father, siblings, and cousins grew up close as siblings. And thanks to my loyal grandfather, a fantastic teacher who helped the weak ones, a professional singer, and my grandmother, one of those farms was saved through an economic crisis – and then stayed in the family. And the father of the four sisters, my great-grandfather, was one of the role models in this gang, also related to giving support where possible. He was essential both in the local society and in Norway as a country. And he had a connection to the King of Norway and Sweden. Because at that time, Norway and Sweden were in a union.
My great-grandfather was a member of the Norwegian parliament for many years, one of those who helped establish the parliamentary system in Norway. And he was one of those in the parliament who wanted Norway to be a free country – free from the union with Sweden. Despite that, he had a good relationship with the King, both in private and in related jobs. So, he often visits the castle in Oslo, and in Stockholm too. And he participated in the King's coronation as King of Norway and received the St. Olav's Order, as well as several other fascinating historical connections. He was a good poet as well, one of the artists in the family. Of course, all this became important to his daughters' background, with whom my grandmother was one of seven.
To be proud of being a woman was a mantra for my grandmother. And my great-grandfather supported the liberation of women. He worked for women's rights in society. Therefore, my grandmother, who became a widow before I was born, was more than capable of being the owner and ruler of my childhood house, which had servants. Her reign in this house became vital to me. And she could be proud of her father's participation in creating a new foundation for Norway. The liberation from the union with Sweden became a historical event without a war.
And I can be proud of my parents, who managed to live through the First World War. The day women in Norway got the right to vote became a fact. They tackled two pandemics with the Spanish flu. Other pandemics, too, were educated, traveled, and managed the Great Depression according to the economy, as well as World War II.
A few years later, on the United Nations' International Family Day, I was born into my childhood house, where my father decided to raise his family, too. Then, a new era was about to emerge, not just in my childhood home, but also in society. Many of the changes came hand in hand with new sounds, new music: rock music, several different music genres. Protest events took place: against war, against abusive behavior from authorities, and girls – or women - were still suppressed in many ways.
At the earliest time in my childhood, I did not understand women's suppression very well. Because all my friends then were boys, I became like them, in a way. I was equal to or more than one who loved sports in different categories. And if I got a doll, I operated on it to check what was inside. I disassembled many things, including watches, and I always had to check out what was inside. Eventually, I became skilled at repairing everything from watches to household appliances—a typical technician in perpetuity. Besides, I was encouraged - a wanted child, a little girl who did not take notice of being a girl. A little person, everyone in the house, had something to teach if I asked them. But the best of it all led me to seek knowledge, do observations, try to find out everything first, and then ask. And in my moral wondering: What is my opinion? I had to think a lot!
When I started school, I knew the most: reading, writing, doing mathematics, history, different craftworks, and more.
The school became the most boring place on earth, a place of segregation beyond everything! It was a massive shock that the girls were installed in classrooms with only girls and my friends in boys' classes. We – the girls - even got simpler textbooks and mathematics than the boys. Then the rebel was about to wake up – but only inside because I was strictly brought up. I was a quiet, modest, well-dressed girl because my mother was a tailor and a jewelry designer.
I wouldn't say I liked school, but I answered all the questions accurately. At the same time, I was about to explode simultaneously because of the insecure, dictatorial female teacher, the way of teaching, and some highly immature girls in my classroom. But thanks to my ability to find amusement in observing even the tiniest details, especially in people's behavior, and constructing elements into something meaningful, I managed. At the same time, I wanted to go home and learn in an inspiring manner, as I knew. In that period, I chose to spend a lot of my spare time exploring, thinking, and reflecting on many "things." After a while, I made a huge decision: neither to seek political power nor fame. I was a person who wanted people to be friends, and perhaps the reason was that World War II was a never-ending theme in my childhood house. Sometimes this was so overwhelming that I did not know how to handle it – they forgot that I was a child and had no experience related to war.
Then I desired to create something new, to make new possibilities that would enable communication and learning across borders, including those of different languages and cultures. In a way, tear down the rest of Babel's biblical tower, clear the ground, and make it possible for ordinary people to find each other and seek knowledge.
I was extremely fascinated by all the cruelty in the Bible, which generated more than a million questions for all my private teachers in my childhood home. That is why the tower of Babel – and many other insane, corrupt political things - came into my life with extreme power through text and pictures. The cruelty there really triggered my emotions – and the rebel got stronger and stronger.
And according to my future, I just decided to follow my intention and accomplish my task with all the power and energy I could generate – that intention to bring people together across all types of borders - without becoming a teacher, a politician, or famous, as several in my family were. Perhaps you understand this was a type of revolt, too. One of my techniques to create distance and perspective is related to my foundation and family. However, I did not know how I would solve the task I had intended to accomplish. And when people asked me, during my childhood, what I was going to be when I became an adult, my standard answer was: I do not know! It has not been invented yet.
Despite that, my purpose for my future was clear to me. And I was one hundred per cent sure that I would find a way to realize it.
Thanks to my work life, I became one of the boys again. And, I have - together with others - in a way, like-minded people done it. Those who have created new communication solutions have allowed us to do "things" in new ways. We – my colleagues and I - digitalized a lot to make that: like cyberspace, conference systems, payment solutions, electronic education systems, translation systems - and a lot of other stuff have also been a part of the constructions in my projects, both as a technician and as a manager on different levels, and as a business founder, business owner, coach, and mentor as well.
A lot has happened in society since my great-grandmother's time, the role model's wife. She could not vote, and she was not allowed to own her farm. This valuable treasure was transferred to her husband with some pen strokes that were the law. My great-grandfather, who was connected to the parliament and the King, got it. Despite that, she continued her daily work life on this spot - and continued to be a considerable part of the support to the family's wealth. Related to me, she becomes a contrast. I have all the possibilities and more: to vote, to pursue lifelong education in any area that interests me, wherever I want, whenever I want, to own property, to travel the world, alone if I desire to do so. I could get married because of love, independent of a class system. As a woman in the workplace, I experienced only a few discriminatory situations, and then I fought back. And I know that those who experienced those situations will never forget them, just because of my childhood friends among the boys. They were good teachers in tactics to deal with such things. And although I am a woman, I have become a part of the international business world in one of the most male-dominated and technical fields imaginable. In the nineties, I entered the top level of the manager career ladder as a CEO, a top-level manager, and being a part of different boards has been some of it too.
I appreciate what my ancestors did. Their way of living and work made it possible for me to get the highest security clearance level - which I got after a comprehensive background check - in my family background, too, before doing the sensitive engineering work I once entered. And it is a little strange to think about that now, we who did this type of work were entirely under the radar – invisible while we worked night and day. However, those who spoke to the press about various aspects of our work, which involved developing the telecom and information technology sector, became famous and wealthy—people like Steve Jobs, whom I have already mentioned. However, many of them lacked knowledge of engineering work, leadership, or management. But the fact is, they were good at triggering dopamine—the golden key in business. Successful marketing is the crucial word related to this: creating echo chambers or religions, if you like that term. And in today's society, it does not take thousands of years - it is "done in no time at all." Dangerous to the thinking human!
According to my life, I also lived up to my intention number two: never seek political power or fame. Funny! And I also want to say: Great tracks on my trails I have not disclosed, far beyond the steps from art to high tech, is a fact. That's why I amuse myself by writing book manuscripts and creating courses. And through that, I have confirmed that I may teach too. I can disclose now that teaching was challenging to incorporate into my business career in the high-tech sector. But, for several years, I did classroom teaching for adults. And that became the part I loved most - despite all the other pieces I also loved. So, I have worked as a teacher in various fields, including project management, quality management related to certifying organizations according to international quality standards, logistics, statistics, information technology, customer support, product development, and more. And, I have continued to work through cyberspace using "my type of technology", which is odd to many people of my age. People who can barely manage a bus ticket app.
Okay, believe it or not, this is not a never-ending story. And what about the moral behind all these letters of mine, 0's and 1's? I think it must be: Mind your intentions and the context you put them in. You create reality. And apropos history, women in business, and something on the same path, BLM. Take a look at the movie: THE HIDDEN FIGURE.
But before finishing my story, I have to pinpoint where everything happens: HERE AND NOW. This timeless moment touches upon everything.
Okay, the final of my ego presentation is here with an entrepreneur's riddle:
Where do I find the hidden figures that lift ..., and where do I get the power to fulfil..., when I do not have ...? Fill in with what's suitable for you. Then do it, and the golden key is where it always has been.
... or do you desire something more to think about? And what about Harvard-led physicists taking a big step in the race to quantum computing? Can we save humanity?
PS
If you want to understand the historical span I cover in this blog post (200 years in 30 minutes), Outlander may offer a helpful perspective.
I am grateful to my forefathers and upbringing, which gave me the mental strength and capacity to do what I have done, especially as a woman in a male-dominated career world, which was very different from today. And now, related to what is happening on the energy side and the ongoing pandemic time all over the globe, and the consequence of this combo - I wonder: Am I a sort of "canary in the mine?" Either way, it's all about energy in one way or another 😊 And we - the humans - are creators based on that, which very few understand yet.
Strange thoughts? Perhaps, but these thoughts are what made it possible for me to get well again, against all odds, and much more.
If you know the Norwegian language, you can learn the same. My simple method is available through the course concept: GJØRE DET UMULIGE - MULIG (DO THE IMPOSSIBLE - POSSIBLE).
The payable net course, which is a part of the total course concept mentioned above, is basically a fundamental method, also about converting the slogan of today, which I mentioned at the start of this blog post, THE WHAT OR WHY.
If you find that interesting, you may press the following button to gain a free introduction to the lifesaving, non-political, non-religious method HOW