Annika’s speech was based on her own aversion to uncertainty, a discomfort she often dismissed until realizing how deeply it shaped her decisions. Curious about why she and her peers hesitated to take risks, challenge change, or cling to familiar paths, she began digging deeper. Through this journey, she uncovered eight main powerful cognitive biases, which distorted how individuals lead, choose, and relate to others. In The Puppeteer’s Illusion, Annika walks audiences through these hidden forces, revealing how these biases already influence school leadership, friendships, innovation, and self-worth, and often without our awareness. Annika invites listeners to recognize the strings, question them, and ultimately rewire how we think in order to transform leadership practices into more conscious, inclusive, and collaborative decisions. Annika’s speech was based on her own aversion to uncertainty, a discomfort she often dismissed until realizing how deeply it shaped her decisions. Curious about why she and her peers hesitated to take risks, challenge change, or cling to familiar paths, she began digging deeper. Through this journey, she uncovered eight main powerful cognitive biases, which distorted how individuals lead, choose, and relate to others. In The Puppeteer’s Illusion, Annika walks audiences through these hidden forces, revealing how these biases already influence school leadership, friendships, innovation, and self-worth, and often without our awareness. Annika invites listeners to recognize the strings, question them, and ultimately rewire how we think in order to transform leadership practices into more conscious, inclusive, and collaborative decisions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx