In this solo episode of the No Ego podcast, Sy (Cy) Wakeman introduces the concept of co‑creation as a practical pathway to personal empowerment and better results at work and at home. She links the idea to the observer effect from quantum physics, arguing that merely observing an interaction changes its outcome. Wakeman explains how most people unconsciously co‑create negative results by letting ego‑driven stories dictate their behavior, using a workplace example of a colleague who doesn’t say hello. She contrasts a neutral, story‑free response with a negative narrative that fuels conflict, then shows how assuming positive intent and giving the benefit of the doubt can flip the interaction toward positivity. The episode offers concrete habits—stay neutral when possible, default to positive intent when you must assign motive, and practice these over a few days—to interrupt the negative co‑creation cycle. Wakeman also shares a leadership “non‑negotiable”: professionals must assume positive intent. The episode ends with a call to listeners to apply the practice, share outcomes, and follow her on social media.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Sy Wakeman, and you're listening to No Ego, a podcast where we teach you how to ditch the drama, end entitlement, and drive big results in your workplace and your world place. Welcome back to the podcast, No Ego. I'm Cy Wakeman. And I have begun this podcast to start to introduce people to ways in which they can move beyond their ego, so that they can create the results that they desire both at work and at home. You know, it's all about better results and more happiness and definitely more peace. And there are some certain things that if you just become familiar with how you move through the world, that we can teach you skills so that you can move through the world more skillfully. And today I want to talk about a concept called co-creation. I meet with people all over the country, the world, actually. And one frequent question I get is, how do I get other people to empower me? People really feel like they could do a lot better job if they just had more power. And so a quest for many humans is how to get more empowerment. And people, I think, are a little shocked at my response. Because instead of finding ways to get more power. If you're seeking empowerment, my advice is to step into the power you already have. See, most of us are playing small rather than large. Most of us have power to sit up, speak up, join in. But the ultimate power really could be that one of co-creation. We have this power that we aren't using that I want to teach you today to really consider how you can benefit from the relationship of co-creation or the cycle. cycle of co-creation in your everyday lives. When I was in college, I was interacting with some people that were studying quantum physics, and I was always fascinated with some of the things they were learning. And the thing that I found totally fascinating was the observer effect. As they shared it with me, it was that the observer of an experiment affects or impacts the experiment just by observing. There is no action that doesn't have an effect on the world. So if I'm observing an experiment and I'm observing light, it acts differently when I'm not observing it. And that was mind-blowing to me because it opened up a connection between quantum physics and what I've believed for a long time is that whether or not we believe our own thinking can actually really determine and influence some of the results that we get in life. That if I wanna be empowered, I can step up to the power I already have. And one of the greatest powers, it seems to me, is a process of what I would call co-creation. I want you to learn to use this observer effect that's been proven scientifically to create results that are more desirable. And also the byproduct is that you'll be a lot more peaceful and a lot happier. Here's how I think about it in the process of co-creation. I have begun to notice that there are many times in my life that rather than staying neutral about something, or rather than using kind of my powers for good, like assuming noble intent or giving people the benefit of the doubt, that I instead move to like the worst-case scenario. I believe my own thinking about the worst motive possible, when in fact, I know very little about the situation. My ego loves to get me thinking I know things for sure. And when I'm believing my ego, I definitely assume things for the worse rather than the better. So here's how I describe to people co-creation. And then we'll talk about how you can use that for positive impact. Most people don't realize how often they co-create some negative results just by either the story they make up or the ego narration they believe and act it out and co-create negative results rather than positive ones. So let's take an example that may happen often in the office place. Let's say that someone walks by me and doesn't say hello. Now, if I were to just stay neutral, not to buy into the story my ego might be creating, not making up anything myself, if I were just to stay neutral, that interaction would really take very little energy. I would notice that someone walked by me and didn't say hello. And I would conserve my energy and go on to use it in what I would consider high-value ways. In fact, That's what our friends the Buddhists would actually advise us to do is just create no meaning, just experience the world firsthand and just notice what is and then don't attach to it. But if you're the average human and you aren't yet aware of how powerful this incredible cycle of co-creation is, you might fall prey to your ego. I've done it myself. So let's say someone walks by me, doesn't say hello. Mm-hmm. I have a difficult time staying neutral. I tend to, as a human being with a human condition, jump into making up a story about that. And unfortunately, as humans, the stories we make up aren't necessarily positive ones unless we really take advantage of the power of co-creation. Most of the stories we make up are negative ones. Immediately I see her walk by, she doesn't say hello. I have an immediate story. The story is, is that ever since she got that That promotion. She thinks she's all that and a bag of chips. And bottom line is she is rude. Now here's where the power comes in. The minute I decide that she's rude, I— that thought is thought. I believe it. I buy into it. I label her as rude. I assign negative motive. I attribute this to her rudeness. The minute I believe that she is rude, it starts to affect my behavior. I treat her rudely. And how does she respond? Rudely. And then I'm satisfied because I think I can believe what I make up. See, when I say that she's rude, I think that I treat her rudely and she responds rudely. I go, see, I'm right about stuff I make up. When in fact, I have so much more power than that. I can either stay neutral, as I suggested, but most of us have difficulty with that. Or I can tune into the cycle of co-creation and I can be professional. If I know that we're co-creating and that my story I make up about you will impact our results, I can do a much better job of doing what I call giving people the benefit of the doubt, assuming positive intent. If you walk by me and don't say hello, and I feel myself stressed or struggling with that, I can't stay neutral, then I owe it to you to attribute that to positive behavior or intent. Why do I owe it to you? Because we're co-creating and I'm going to do my part to at least get us back to neutral, at least get us back to neutral. So instead of making up a negative story where we'll end up with both of us treating each other rudely, I'm going to come up with a different story. How would I know whether you're being rude? I made that up. So if I'm making things up, why not make up something super positive, especially when I know about co-creation? So if I need to make something up, it's going to be good. I would make up the story that you're deep in prayer and meditation for peace in the world and didn't see me. And with that story, I would treat you differently. I, by assuming positive intent, would act differently towards you. I may just, you know, grab you lightheartedly and saying, hey, what are you doing for lunch? Can I sit by you? How can you be in this world and not of this world? I just, I love that you can maintain this focus on meditation for peace in the world. I just, this is great, right? When I assume that positive intent and I treat you well, how do you respond? Or how does she respond in this story? She responds with positivity as well. See, where it began was how I saw the world. What you see is what you get. In a way, because how I view the world affects my behavior, which then affects our outcomes. You see, the observer affects the experiment just through observation. Think about how much effect we can have on our everyday interactions by either observing and being neutral, or when we must assign motive, we assume positive intent so that we ensure that there's a chance for better outcomes. Now, some of you are skeptical. You say, what if she really was just being She intended that. Then here's what is awesome about that is that we didn't end up any worse off. I played the stakes in my favor by assuming positive intent. I got to stay happier longer. If she was going to have a bit of a turnaround in her day, I left room for that to happen. See, this power of co-creation is enormous. And what I want you to do is I want you to tune into how often you assume negative intent and how little you give benefit of the doubt. And I want you to start practicing. Over the next couple of days, assuming positive intent, giving benefit of the doubt—it absolutely becomes life-changing. And this isn't just some type of positive thinking; this is absolutely interrupting the cycle of co-creation and moving the energy in a bit different direction. You're going to find out that you're going to have some amazing results—that things that you didn't expect—and I would love to hear about those. I hope that you're following me at Sai Wakeman on all the social media channels. Channels. I hope you've subscribed to youtube.com/SciWakeman. I want to talk to you about some of these topics that will interrupt your thinking a bit about how you have far more power than you think you have to create different results in the world, especially with a cycle of co-creation. When I am leading others, I have a non-negotiable, which is professionals assume positive intent. Professionals give Benefit of the doubt. If you're professional, it means that you have the ability to overcome your human condition, to move beyond your ego, to bypass the story your ego wanted to make up, which is usually negative, and instead to move to a place of neutrality. Or if neutrality is not at your disposal, at least overshooting from a place of positivity. Let me know some of the crazy good things that happen in the course of your life after you've listened to this podcast, and definitely join me. For more podcasts coming your way. Have a great day. Thank you so much for joining the episode today. If you're loving this podcast, just make sure that you check me out on Facebook and Instagram and especially YouTube.
