This mini-series of five articles was created based on interviews with colleagues in the L&D field, company owners, managers, and frontline employees. We all agreed that the pressing problem in education is not a lack of information – it’s that people often don’t feel like learning.
Companies invest in education more than ever.
Yet the most common challenges include, first, that education has less impact than expected. Second, employees themselves often do not want to learn. Or they experience an initial wave of enthusiasm that fades, and results are again lacking. Not because they are incapable or lazy, but because there is a layer between knowledge and behavior that an individual cannot influence easily without external support.
Education works inefficiently with this layer. After all, standard education is not designed for it. It’s the layer where it’s decided whether learned skills manifest in real performance or remain just the “correct answer on a test.” It’s the layer of commitment, internal understanding, and anchoring of the subject. The ability to apply learned skills in practice. This is not an assumption. It is a repeatedly described effect in psychology and neuroscience, well documented in the literature. For example, Oxford research.
In the following articles, we will look at why mindset and expectations are not esotericism, but a biological brain function. How mental settings influence measurable results of individuals and companies. Where the limits of content-based education are and which techniques truly work when applying skills in practice.
This is not about motivation or quick tricks. It’s about understanding how human behavior and the brain work in the real world of work – and what this means for modern business, education, and long-term results.
What "mental power" really is – and why it matters to companies and business
When people hear “mental power,” many imagine something intangible. Something between autosuggestion, spirituality, and “positive thinking.” Placebo or belief.
In business, you often hear:
“We need results, not talks, assumptions, or pseudoscience.”
“Our employees are doing well, we need to boost the numbers.”
“Achieving results must be motivating.”
But this is where a crucial mistake arises.
Contemporary psychology and neuroscience show that expectations, beliefs, and mental settings directly affect performance, learning, and decision-making. At work, in business, and in team leadership, just as in medicine. Many companies that have understood this key to success demonstrate it. For example, Google and Project Aristotle or Netflix and their Freedom and Responsibility culture.
A company stands on results. But results don’t happen by themselves – people ensure them.
It’s people’s approach that decides
whether processes work,
or remain just on paper.
What placebo is – and what it isn’t
Or where mental power begins and where imagining ends
First, what is placebo? *
The placebo effect shows that the way a person interprets a situation and what they believe directly affects their physical and psychological responses. When the brain expects improvement, it activates mechanisms that change perception of challenging situations, decision-making under pressure, and overall performance in business and leadership. It’s not autosuggestion in a negative sense, but a practical demonstration of the mind, nervous system, and physiology connection.
So:
Placebo is not a lie.
Placebo is not a trick.
And it’s certainly not “nothing.”
Placebo is a situation where expectations trigger real biological processes in the brain.
The brain, based on mindset or belief in a specific outcome:
- activates dopamine systems (motivation, drive),
- regulates stress response and self-confidence perception,
- works with neurotransmitters such as serotonin and oxytocin.
Result?
The person truly functions differently. Not because they “convince themselves,” but because
their brain received a clear signal: this makes sense, it’s worth the effort.
Placebo is not just a phenomenon, it’s a functional body mechanism
Mental power doesn’t have to be a “sunshine” term, but a functional framework of motivation
Belief is not just spirituality, but a strong tool for calm and consistent decision-making
Belief acts as a internal compass that gives experiences direction and stability in situations lacking certainty and dominated by the unknown. When a person believes, the brain and nervous system rely on this framework for decision-making, coping under pressure, and perseverance in long-term effort. It’s not about denying reality, but anchoring an internal setting that enables calm and consistent action even under challenging conditions.
This process as a tool for managing psychological stress and pressure is detailed in the research of American psychology professor Kenneth Pargament.
👉 Belief as mental expectation of an outcome:
- belief in one’s own abilities,
- belief in the process,
- belief that effort makes sense.
And this already generates different outcomes than just “belief.”
👉 Psychology uses the following terms for this phenomenon:
- self-efficacy (Bandura’s self-efficacy model)
- expectation of outcome,
- intrinsic motivation.
In other words:
when a person believes they can succeed, their brain behaves differently than when expecting failure.
Among the experts who studied this topic are researchers from Harvard Medical School.
Mental power in practice (not just in motivational quotes)
Mental power is not about repeating affirmations in front of a mirror.
It’s about how the brain reacts to training, experience, and expectations.
Research repeatedly shows that:
- mental training activates the same neural pathways as actual activity,
- the brain learns even “in rehearsal,”
- fear, uncertainty, or negative expectations can significantly block performance – even before the person starts.
This applies to athletes.
And it equally applies to employees, managers, and salespeople.
This phenomenon is documented by the 2004 study “From Mental Strength to Muscle Power: How to Achieve Strength Through the Mind.”
Why this matters for companies and business
This is about investments in high-quality education that develops practical skills, along with supporting a sense of integration and safety in the company. This creates internal team stability, on which the company builds its performance (measurable results).
When employees feel competent, safe, and part of a whole, their nervous system operates in a mode of cooperation, learning, and responsibility.
This directly affects decision quality, adaptability, and achieved results.
It’s not an extra benefit, but a strategic infrastructure of performance that determines how a company functions under pressure and in the long term.
Companies often invest in:
- processes,
- tools,
- techniques.
But they underestimate one key variable: the mental mindset of the people using these processes. And this directly defines their success or failure (process, personal, company).
This is where it is decided whether investment in development brings a return.
The result often is:
- trainings that “only work for a short time,”
- employees who know the techniques but do not use them,
- salespeople who have a script but lack confidence,
- managers pushing performance but losing team engagement.
Example scenario from a company setting:
A company invests in high-quality training. Participants leave satisfied, pass tests, and acquire knowledge. But after a few weeks, most new procedures fade.
The reason is usually not lack of information, but internal mindset. How many times have you heard: “This won’t work here anyway.” “My team isn’t ready.” “I don’t have space to try this.”
When working also with expectations and internal attitudes of people, behavior begins to change. Not because they learn a revolutionary topic – but because they learn it differently and their brain stops blocking the change.
There are concrete techniques to work with this.
The placebo effect and mental power show that performance is not only a matter of skills, but also of internal mindset.
Practical example
Regarding employee satisfaction and engagement, numbers are less “hard” but more sensitive to the way people are managed. Where training is regular, linked to real situations, and supplemented with individual support and clear standards, there is repeatedly an increase in satisfaction and engagement in the range of about 15 to 30%. These changes are observable long-term in HR pulse surveys, eNPS, and team stability. This is not a one-time motivational effect, but a gradual and conscious change in people’s attitude toward work, responsibility, and their own performance.
Conclusion
Conclusion of Part One
- Placebo – mindset is not deception, but a biological mechanism.
- What we believe – mindset = expectations that influence brain performance.
- Mindset is not esotericism, but work with neurobiology.
- Companies that ignore these principles lose a significant part of their people’s potential. And with it, profit.
In the following parts, we will look at how to work with this potential systematically and practically.
👉 Next:
“Why Belief and Expectations Determine People’s Performance in Companies”