“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration,” said inventor Nikola Tesla.
Ever wonder why some managers get a critical task done in five minutes, while others flounder complaining endlessly for five weeks, or five months later? Ever feel that despite a barrage of communication that some co-workers just don’t seem to be in sync?
Are Gen Z’s right to pull out of doing something when they say they “just don’t feel the vibe”? What can one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century teach us about performing at a high level? When you are anxious and fearful, is your mind on a higher frequency?
Alternating current (AC) electrical systems, allowing electricity to be transmitted efficiently over long distances and the ability of that phone [really a computer] in your pocket to operate by wireless electrical transmission exist, thanks to the ground breaking work of Nikola Tesla, more than a century ago.
A genius, way ahead of his time, his foundational innovations power the world today, and laid the groundwork for countless modern technologies. Born in 1856 in Croatia, this prodigy was almost airbrushed out of history, till an innovative electric car company was named after him.
Energy — Has your battery gone flat?
In business, energy is the ability of people and systems to get things done. Leading edge organisations manage energy rather than simply managing time. Amazon has extraordinary organisational energy because decisions are made quickly. Delays, procrastination, mindless bureaucracy have a detrimental impact on the performance of systems.
When you pass decisions up to your boss, who has to talk to his boss, that friction, saps energy, and risks nothing ever getting done. Empowerment means, giving staff the power, the energy to take action. [Paradoxically, the most powerful person is the one giving away their power.]
Kenyan startups — with time — can outperform large corporates because their energy is concentrated on one mission. Poor leaders drain energy, great managers create it. Helps to ask — Where is your organisational energy being wasted?
Frequency = Rhythm and Speed
Frequency can be interpreted as the rate at which an organisation learns, communicates, and adapts. Company frequency is shown by, for instance, rapid experimentation, monthly product releases, continuous customer feedback with daily operational dashboards in place.
Rather than doing ritual planning once every five years, leading firms create rapid feedback loops.
Market leaders like Google, Amazon and Tesla continuously adjust strategy based on data. In practice this high frequency means: more learning, faster adaptation, and insightful innovation. Systems thinker, Peter Senge called this creating a ‘learning organisation’.
As Tesla knew, most processes have a frequency, like your ability to see and hear depends upon the wavelength. Humans hear in the frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hertz [Hz]. Even the earth has a frequency of in the range of 7.3 Hz.
When you are anxious and stressed, your mind’s brainwaves are at a higher frequency. For thousands of years, sages have realised the importance of calm and focus in the mind and consciousness for the ability to see clearly. Market leaders, Apple’s Steve Jobs, Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Marc Benioff of Salesforce – and thinkers like the ‘historian of the future’, Yuval Noah Harari know value being able to calm the mind and meditate. Question is, if you can’t control your mind, your thinking, what can you control?
Just like trying to tune into your favorite radio station, it helps to realise that our thinking works on various frequencies. Beta (14+ Hz) is our waking state of the conscious mind, used for everyday tasks and often scattered thinking.
Slowing down to Alpha (7 to 14 Hz) is the state of relaxation and daydreaming. Jose Silva believed 10 Hz is the optimal frequency for the brain to access deep intuition and visualise goals. An even slower frequency is Theta (4 to 7 Hz), the state of deep meditation, light sleep, and enhanced awareness. Last is Delta (0.5 to 4 Hz): the state of deep, dreamless sleep.
Vibration is organisational culture
Everything in an organisation creates a ‘vibration’. Often you can feel the vibe the moment you walk in the door of a company. Culture is the emotional atmosphere people experience.
Vibe of culture impacts levels of trust, creativity and risk-taking.
When the finance director Sarah says “It just feels different working here” she is describing the organisation’s vibration. Physics teaches that systems become powerful when they resonate. Everyone is ‘on the same bus’.
But beware, toxic workplaces will churn out the ‘great place to work and grow’ hype.
Learning from Nikola Tesla helps to ask: In energy – Where is time, talent, and resources being lost or amplified? For frequency – How quickly does the organisation sense, decide, and act? And in vibration – What behaviors, values, and cultural patterns shape performance?
