I won't be coming today because my hamster…

Expert, Writer / Author, Columnist

1 hour

NL

Leadership,
Working / Happiness at work,
Behavior change,
Cultural differences

Cooperation,
Inspire,
Motivate

“I’m Not Coming in Today Because My Hamster Is Sick” is an inspiring and interactive lecture about entrenched behavioral patterns that teams perpetuate together. Using humor, behavioral science, and practical exercises, Bas van Kesteren shows how good intentions actually translate into different behavior.

Why do committed and sensible people sometimes say “yes” together, only to then act as if they said “no”? Why do discussions keep repeating themselves, with the same people always speaking up, and agreements reached outside the meeting room being reopened?

Every team has a “hamster”: behavior that no one consciously chose, but that the group collectively normalized. So the “hamster” isn’t that one difficult coworker. It’s the pattern that emerges among people.

In “I’m Not Coming In Today Because My Hamster Is Sick,” speaker and author Bas van Kesteren takes the audience on a journey into the surprising world of group behavior. Through relatable stories, humor, and accessible insights from behavioral science, he shows how expectations, unwritten rules, and mutual reactions shape our behavior.

The lecture doesn’t stop at raising awareness. Participants explore which behaviors they collectively perpetuate and translate their insights into a first concrete change. For example:

- starting a meeting prepared;
- listening to truly understand the other person;
- building on ideas instead of judging them immediately;
- making tension or resistance a topic for discussion;
- after the meeting, not just saying “yes,” but also acting on it;
- visibly supporting one another when someone breaks a fixed pattern.

This shifts the focus from blame to curiosity, from individuals to patterns, and from talking about change to practicing different behaviors together.

Participants leave with a common language for addressing challenging team dynamics, a clearer understanding of their own influence, and a concrete first step to apply in their daily work. Positive and inspiring, but not just for show: success ultimately lies in what people actually do differently tomorrow.

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