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Bertrand Piccard

Continued from Part 1....

Sue:   Did you have that same epiphany then, about what was to come next?

Bertrand:   Solar Impulse was really a symbolic project.  It was not to show what we can do with solar aeroplanes, because it was an aeroplane with a 72-metre wingspan - it was bigger than a jumbo jet, lighter than a car, a single seater.  It needed 30 people to be able to fly it, but only in good weather.  So of course, it’s not a really good way to promote clean aviation.  But I noticed that it was a really good way to promote the solutions that can make our world much cleaner and much more efficient. 

Solar Impulse, for me, was really a symbol of the gap existing between all the current technologies available and the world of the past in which we’re still living.  Just imagine:  I was flying with no fuel, with no noise, no pollution, and I could fly for as long as I wanted.  And I was above the world that still uses thermal engines which are wasting 80% of the fuel you put in the tank.  A world with badly-insulated houses, inefficient heating, cooling and lighting systems, old industrial processes, dirty ways to use fossil energies.  Well, that was such a gap!  It was unbelievable.  And we don’t understand that we live in the world of the past, because it’s like a fish that’s in the water and doesn’t know he’s wet.  We don’t notice how outdated and inefficient our world is.

So this is when I thought, OK, now, after Solar Impulse, and thanks to the fame of Solar Impulse, I wanted to identify in the world all the efficient solutions that are economically profitable to be able to protect the environment.  And this is really important, because sometimes people look for magical solutions for the future.  Well, that’s useless today!  It’s almost an alibi for doing nothing today.  What we need are solutions that exist, that are scalable, that we can use right now.  And, of course, they have to protect the environment, but they also need to be economically profitable.  Otherwise, nobody will use them. 

My goal, after flying with Solar Impulse around the world, and even with Breitling Orbiter 3, was not to say, ‘the world is beautiful, nature is magical, life is a miracle, we have to protect that.’  That’s not the language of the key decision makers.  Their language is about job creation and profitability.  So we have to give them that, with the ecological solutions.  They need to have profitability and job creation.  And this is why we created this label, ‘Solar Impulse Efficient Solution’.  And we have found, now - we have identified in the world - 1,515 of these solutions.  It’s an enormous number.  It really gives hope.  And now I’m spending my life bringing these solutions to heads of state, to economical leaders, key decision makers, and so on.

Sue:   It sounds to me, as you tell that story, that you’re now more a communicator than merely - I say merely an explorer, which is an accolade in itself!   It sounds as if what’s most important is how you communicate what the solutions are for the future.

Bertrand:   With my Foundation [the Solar Impulse Foundation], when we explore the best solutions, we explore new ways to make them known, we explore new ways to implement them, to create an enthusiasm around these solutions.  We explore ways to transform the general inertia and paralysis into action.  So I think it remains the world of exploration, but it’s implemented in another way, [rather] than going in the jungle or to the North Pole or flying around the world in a solar aeroplane.  Now, it’s going around the world, meeting key decision makers and trying to change the narrative. 

Ecology is not any more something expensive, boring and sacrificial.  It is something exciting.  It is something economically profitable.  It’s something that can bring people together.  And I think exploration is also inside ourselves, inside the way people are thinking and doing, and not only in new territories.

Sue:   So, given that you’re using your exploration skills in all of these different ways to inspire and engage people, and you also know that, as a youngster, you weren’t an explorer - you had to go in that hang-glider to experience what the reality of it was - how do you engage people to trust in the unknown, to step out of their comfort zone and to be uncomfortable enough to engage in some of those technologies that are part of those solutions that you described?

Bertrand:   You have to give an incentive to people to change.  If you see somebody who is afraid of changing, you have to show him that he has inside himself all the tools, all the resources, all the potentials, that can help him to do something differently.  We have to show him that it’s better to do it in another way. 

You know, as much as [I am] an explorer, I’m a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and I was treating people for 20 years with hypnosis.  And basically, it’s exactly the same thing.  You bring people into confidence, into trusting their own resources.  And this is something that we are sometimes discovering for the first time - to trust ourselves, to be aware that we have all the tools to do it, and that if we do it, life will be more interesting.  Our relationships with ourselves and with other people will also be more interesting.  We will be able to imagine more, to dream more, to do things differently, and maybe to invent a future in three dimensions rather than just the little prison in which we are with our certitudes.

Sue:   Well, I certainly agree with what you’re saying, Bertrand.  I’m an executive coach, and there are many conversations that I have with leaders on very similar subjects about how difficult and yet how rewarding it is to step out of one’s comfort zone.

Bertrand:   But you know, there’s something [else] important to say, which is that we are not big heroes doing exploration and putting ourselves above other people.  We have to show to everyone that each one can do the same that what we have done.  If we have a bit of curiosity, if we have a bit of perseverance, if we agree also to take the risk of failing, this is very important. 

And sometimes, I meet explorers who say, oh, we should not speak about our emotions, we should not speak about our fears, we have to show that we are much more courageous than everybody else.  And I think it’s wrong - I think it’s absolutely wrong.  We have to show our doubts, we have to show our problems, we have to show our failures, and tell people, ‘We’re just like you, but we take that risk.  We take the risk to step out of what we know, because we think it makes life much more interesting.’

Sue:   I also concur with what you’re saying, Bertrand, and recognise that we live in a world of social media, and what may seem like the perfect scenario where people are photographing things for Facebook or Instagram, for example.  There is a drive for perfection, and not showing vulnerability or imperfections.  So sometimes it’s not quite as easy as we would like it to be in showing the vulnerability - particularly for decision makers, industry leaders and heads of government to be the ones to say, ‘I don’t know what to do next.’  And I’m wondering if you’ve experienced any of that with the influencers and key people that you engage with?  Do they ever show you a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty?

Bertrand:  Only if you show yours, they will show theirs!   And it’s funny, because in the beginning, I was giving speeches to big corporations, and even public speeches, showing the success.  But there were people saying, yes, but did you also have some failures?  And I thought, wow, I’m not speaking enough about my failures.  And now I have a complete speech that I do sometimes, only about the failures.  And it’s really interesting, because it shows that each failure allowed me to understand something much better and to do better afterwards.  And there would not have been all this success without the previous failures.  This shows the vulnerability.  It’s a huge mistake.  If we want to promote exploration and the spirit of exploration, it’s a huge mistake to believe that we are invulnerable.  We need to show our vulnerability.  We have to show our difficulties.  We have to show that, basically, we are like everybody else, but just with a wish to go a bit further.  And we should go there with everybody else, not alone.

Sue:  That’s what makes it much more enjoyable, as well, when one’s doing adventurous things with other people and seeing the effect that it has on them too.

Bertrand:   Exactly. And now what I always say when I speak to you, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, or to the Explorers Club in New York, or other groups like this, it’s that we should give the wish to new members to explore the world, but also to explore life, to explore the human being, to explore the psychology, to explore the spirituality, to explore new ways to have a better quality of life.  And this can be done by absolutely everybody.  And also to never believe when you are told it’s impossible.  The people who say that something is impossible are people who believe that the future is an extrapolation of the past and the present, which is completely wrong.  The future is unpredictable and requires from us to be disruptive.  That means to invent new ways of doing and thinking that actually have absolutely nothing to do with what we have learned.

Sue:   So, given that you have this enthusiasm for exploration and helping people to be disruptive and challenge their stated ways of thinking, I understand you also have a family yourself.  I’m wondering if they get inspired by your messages.  Are your daughters not as enthused as you’d like them to be?

Bertrand:   No, no, everybody’s enthusiastic.  And, you know, I did all my adventures thanks to my family and not despite my family!  I remember that, in order for my daughters to identify with what I was doing, I always took them to the place where I was constructing the aeroplane or the balloon.  I took them to see the test flights, and they came with me when I was giving speeches.  So they were really completely involved in what I was doing, and they understood very well why I was doing it.  And I remember, when I was ready to take off in Hawaii to cross the second part of the Pacific and fly to San Francisco, I sent them a message to say, ‘flight is confirmed for tomorrow.’  And I thought, what are they going to answer?  And the answer was, ‘pioneering spirit for life!’  And this has become the motto of the family, but it was invented by them, not by me!

Sue:   Did you have that same epiphany then, about what was to come next?

Bertrand:   Solar Impulse was really a symbolic project.  It was not to show what we can do with solar aeroplanes, because it was an aeroplane with a 72-metre wingspan - it was bigger than a jumbo jet, lighter than a car, a single seater.  It needed 30 people to be able to fly it, but only in good weather.  So of course, it’s not a really good way to promote clean aviation.  But I noticed that it was a really good way to promote the solutions that can make our world much cleaner and much more efficient. 

Solar Impulse, for me, was really a symbol of the gap existing between all the current technologies available and the world of the past in which we’re still living.  Just imagine:  I was flying with no fuel, with no noise, no pollution, and I could fly for as long as I wanted.  And I was above the world that still uses thermal engines which are wasting 80% of the fuel you put in the tank.  A world with badly-insulated houses, inefficient heating, cooling and lighting systems, old industrial processes, dirty ways to use fossil energies.  Well, that was such a gap!  It was unbelievable.  And we don’t understand that we live in the world of the past, because it’s like a fish that’s in the water and doesn’t know he’s wet.  We don’t notice how outdated and inefficient our world is.

So this is when I thought, OK, now, after Solar Impulse, and thanks to the fame of Solar Impulse, I wanted to identify in the world all the efficient solutions that are economically profitable to be able to protect the environment.  And this is really important, because sometimes people look for magical solutions for the future.  Well, that’s useless today!  It’s almost an alibi for doing nothing today.  What we need are solutions that exist, that are scalable, that we can use right now.  And, of course, they have to protect the environment, but they also need to be economically profitable.  Otherwise, nobody will use them. 

My goal, after flying with Solar Impulse around the world, and even with Breitling Orbiter 3, was not to say, ‘the world is beautiful, nature is magical, life is a miracle, we have to protect that.’  That’s not the language of the key decision makers.  Their language is about job creation and profitability.  So we have to give them that, with the ecological solutions.  They need to have profitability and job creation.  And this is why we created this label, ‘Solar Impulse Efficient Solution’.  And we have found, now - we have identified in the world - 1,515 of these solutions.  It’s an enormous number.  It really gives hope.  And now I’m spending my life bringing these solutions to heads of state, to economical leaders, key decision makers, and so on.

Sue:   It sounds to me, as you tell that story, that you’re now more a communicator than merely - I say merely an explorer, which is an accolade in itself!   It sounds as if what’s most important is how you communicate what the solutions are for the future.

Bertrand:   With my Foundation [the Solar Impulse Foundation], when we explore the best solutions, we explore new ways to make them known, we explore new ways to implement them, to create an enthusiasm around these solutions.  We explore ways to transform the general inertia and paralysis into action.  So I think it remains the world of exploration, but it’s implemented in another way, [rather] than going in the jungle or to the North Pole or flying around the world in a solar aeroplane.  Now, it’s going around the world, meeting key decision makers and trying to change the narrative. 

Ecology is not any more something expensive, boring and sacrificial.  It is something exciting.  It is something economically profitable.  It’s something that can bring people together.  And I think exploration is also inside ourselves, inside the way people are thinking and doing, and not only in new territories.

Sue:   So, given that you’re using your exploration skills in all of these different ways to inspire and engage people, and you also know that, as a youngster, you weren’t an explorer - you had to go in that hang-glider to experience what the reality of it was - how do you engage people to trust in the unknown, to step out of their comfort zone and to be uncomfortable enough to engage in some of those technologies that are part of those solutions that you described?

Bertrand:   You have to give an incentive to people to change.  If you see somebody who is afraid of changing, you have to show him that he has inside himself all the tools, all the resources, all the potentials, that can help him to do something differently.  We have to show him that it’s better to do it in another way. 

You know, as much as [I am] an explorer, I’m a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and I was treating people for 20 years with hypnosis.  And basically, it’s exactly the same thing.  You bring people into confidence, into trusting their own resources.  And this is something that we are sometimes discovering for the first time - to trust ourselves, to be aware that we have all the tools to do it, and that if we do it, life will be more interesting.  Our relationships with ourselves and with other people will also be more interesting.  We will be able to imagine more, to dream more, to do things differently, and maybe to invent a future in three dimensions rather than just the little prison in which we are with our certitudes.

Sue:   Well, I certainly agree with what you’re saying, Bertrand.  I’m an executive coach, and there are many conversations that I have with leaders on very similar subjects about how difficult and yet how rewarding it is to step out of one’s comfort zone.

Bertrand:   But you know, there’s something [else] important to say, which is that we are not big heroes doing exploration and putting ourselves above other people.  We have to show to everyone that each one can do the same that what we have done.  If we have a bit of curiosity, if we have a bit of perseverance, if we agree also to take the risk of failing, this is very important. 

And sometimes, I meet explorers who say, oh, we should not speak about our emotions, we should not speak about our fears, we have to show that we are much more courageous than everybody else.  And I think it’s wrong - I think it’s absolutely wrong.  We have to show our doubts, we have to show our problems, we have to show our failures, and tell people, ‘We’re just like you, but we take that risk.  We take the risk to step out of what we know, because we think it makes life much more interesting.’

Sue:   I also concur with what you’re saying, Bertrand, and recognise that we live in a world of social media, and what may seem like the perfect scenario where people are photographing things for Facebook or Instagram, for example.  There is a drive for perfection, and not showing vulnerability or imperfections.  So sometimes it’s not quite as easy as we would like it to be in showing the vulnerability - particularly for decision makers, industry leaders and heads of government to be the ones to say, ‘I don’t know what to do next.’  And I’m wondering if you’ve experienced any of that with the influencers and key people that you engage with?  Do they ever show you a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty?

Bertrand:  Only if you show yours, they will show theirs!   And it’s funny, because in the beginning, I was giving speeches to big corporations, and even public speeches, showing the success.  But there were people saying, yes, but did you also have some failures?  And I thought, wow, I’m not speaking enough about my failures.  And now I have a complete speech that I do sometimes, only about the failures.  And it’s really interesting, because it shows that each failure allowed me to understand something much better and to do better afterwards.  And there would not have been all this success without the previous failures.  This shows the vulnerability.  It’s a huge mistake.  If we want to promote exploration and the spirit of exploration, it’s a huge mistake to believe that we are invulnerable.  We need to show our vulnerability.  We have to show our difficulties.  We have to show that, basically, we are like everybody else, but just with a wish to go a bit further.  And we should go there with everybody else, not alone.

Sue:  That’s what makes it much more enjoyable, as well, when one’s doing adventurous things with other people and seeing the effect that it has on them too.

Bertrand:   Exactly. And now what I always say when I speak to you, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, or to the Explorers Club in New York, or other groups like this, it’s that we should give the wish to new members to explore the world, but also to explore life, to explore the human being, to explore the psychology, to explore the spirituality, to explore new ways to have a better quality of life.  And this can be done by absolutely everybody.  And also to never believe when you are told it’s impossible.  The people who say that something is impossible are people who believe that the future is an extrapolation of the past and the present, which is completely wrong.  The future is unpredictable and requires from us to be disruptive.  That means to invent new ways of doing and thinking that actually have absolutely nothing to do with what we have learned.

Sue:   So, given that you have this enthusiasm for exploration and helping people to be disruptive and challenge their stated ways of thinking, I understand you also have a family yourself.  I’m wondering if they get inspired by your messages.  Are your daughters not as enthused as you’d like them to be?

Bertrand:   No, no, everybody’s enthusiastic.  And, you know, I did all my adventures thanks to my family and not despite my family!  I remember that, in order for my daughters to identify with what I was doing, I always took them to the place where I was constructing the aeroplane or the balloon.  I took them to see the test flights, and they came with me when I was giving speeches.  So they were really completely involved in what I was doing, and they understood very well why I was doing it.  And I remember, when I was ready to take off in Hawaii to cross the second part of the Pacific and fly to San Francisco, I sent them a message to say, ‘flight is confirmed for tomorrow.’  And I thought, what are they going to answer?  And the answer was, ‘pioneering spirit for life!’  And this has become the motto of the family, but it was invented by them, not by me!...

This is part 2 of 3, look out for the next part on our blog next Friday, or listen to the full podcast episode now.