With over 20 years of experience as an award-winning professor of psychology at Cardiff University and internationally renowned cognitive scientist, Marc Jñānadāsa Buehner specializes in decision-making, helping individuals make better choices. He has guided countless students through formal decision analysis and coached managers and CEOs to align their decisions with their values. Ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2024 and given the name Jñānadāsa (Servant of Knowledge), Marc combines scientific rigor with spiritual playfulness, creating a rich tapestry of direct, lived experience.
Could you describe your initiative/startup’s purpose and vision and how it benefits its target audience?
Helping leaders make better choices so that their work, actions, and lives are in line with their values.
When you look around the world, most people agree on a basic set of values and worthwhile goals. There is a general consensus that our planet is in peril, that we need to do something about climate change, that we cannot deplete the planet’s resources like there is no tomorrow, and that we all need to live more sustainably; that women should have the same opportunities and rights as men, and that it would be a good thing if we could all respect each other, regardless of our race, ethnicity, religion, culture, or gender.
And yet, when we look at the state of the world, there is strife and exploitation. Most people think these problems are too big to tackle as individuals. My vision is to help people close the gap between their values and their actions so they can be the difference they want to see.
As far as entrepreneurship is concerned, your journey is quite inspiring. What are some of your most significant accomplishments and how did you achieve them?
I have built an international career as an award-winning cognitive scientist, advancing our understanding of how people think about and experience causality and time. This has led to me teaching hundreds of students how to make better choices and walking them through applied decision analysis.
A few years ago, I decided it was time to share my knowledge and skills with a wider audience, and so I embarked on a journey to qualify as a personal performance coach. Concurrent to all this, I began to tread a path of spiritual growth, culminating in my ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order in September 2024. I had reached the limits of how far I could go with the purely rational, analytic science approach, and I realized I needed to add a spiritual dimension to my work. This enabled me to work in a much richer and more fulfilling way, and I can now approach my students’ and clients’ problems holistically, helping them achieve better, more satisfying results.
Being an entrepreneur, what kind of response have you received from your users/consumers?
The main feedback I have received is that my unique position as an academic with expertise in decision-making, but sitting outside business and industry, has allowed me to bring a fresh perspective to their problems. This helps them see things differently and identify a productive way forward.
You can see some of my clients’ testimonials on my website: https://marcbuehner.com.
In what ways has your life changed since you began your entrepreneurial journey?
My life feels a lot richer. It is such a privilege to work with people and help them be the best they can be. In a strange way, even though I am much busier than I used to be, my life also feels more spacious, which is very nice!
Do you think ‘GENDER’ affects entrepreneurship? Your views
Yes
Social Media Handles
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcjbuehner/
Website: https://marcbuehner.com
