Sweden 🇸🇪
Immersing in Sweden during my NYU Stern EMBA residency revealed how a country’s history, culture, and business environment align to create resilience.
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From the perspective of Stefan Ingves, former Governor of the central bank, to the creativity at Spotify, from the scientific frontiers of SciLifeLab and Karolinska to Saab’s legacy on the global stage, each visit offered a different dimension of reinvention.
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What stayed with me most was how balance permeates the Swedish approach.
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Work and life.
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Innovation and responsibility.
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Heritage and progress.
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The conversations, the questions from my cohort, and the moments of reflection in Old Town all stitched together into a perspective that is sharper, steadier, and more attuned to the choices that matter.
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No system is perfect and I observed the cracks.
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Discipline keeps standards high, but it can also leave people feeling constrained, as if the system values order more than spontaneity.
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A recent McKinsey report published in August 2025 noted that permitting processes in Sweden, especially in energy, environment, and construction, have become between fifty and three hundred percent slower over the past decade.
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The same report observed that although Sweden produces more unicorns per capita than almost any other European country, many of them eventually seek operations, capital, or listings abroad.
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These are signs that regulatory drag and structural costs weigh heavily on scaling.
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Even in areas like food, safety rules, traceability standards, and clean ingredient labeling reflect a system built for endurance, yet they also highlight the tension between resilience and agility.
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Hard work here feels meaningful rather than mindless motion.
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In Sweden, work carries intention. It is not the frantic motion for its own sake like we often see burning out employees in the US. This contrast stuck me, like a fish out of water flailing and grasping. To not have the task saturation without intention but instead the current that moves with steady purpose is an intention we should aim to emulate here in the US.
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