Harvard Business School

Research Assistant

Research Intern

Universität des Saarlandes

Student Tutor: Psychological Methodology

Student Assistant: Applied Statistical Modeling

Student Assistant: Differential and Personality Psychology

Hey there! 👋 I’m a second-year PhD student in the Organizational Behavior Unit at the Harvard Business School. 

📬 Feel free to subscribe to my monthly newsletter "Kaizen" below where I regularly share passionate stories for a meaningful life! 📬

My research focuses on the challenges people experience in maintaining their 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 over time, and "𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧," which I define as the ability to adapt one's levels of extraversion towards what is optimal in any given situation. 


𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 
Many people want to pursue their passion at work but struggle to find or maintain it over time. I'm interested in (1) what people feel passionate about, as well as (2) how they pursue their passion on a day-to-day basis. Here are some research questions that I'm currently studying:

• On what dimensions do people strive to make a difference in the world?
• When is it useful to grit & when is it useful to quit? 
• How can we support people to pursue their passion in a more sustainable way?


𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Extraversion, to me, is a skill, not just a trait. In many situations, it is helpful to be extraverted, but sometimes we benefit from being more introverted. Flextraverts (1) recognize the optimal level of extraversion in a given situation and are then (2) able to adapt accordingly.

• When is it more optimal to behave in introverted or extraverted ways?
• Why are some people better at ”reading the room“ than others?
• How can we support people to be authentic but also socially intelligent?


Apart from doing research, I'm currently... 

• Hosting the German podcast "𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐭" on psychological research (together with @Luise Hönig)
• Conducting 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 on psychology-related topics
• Working as Head of US Outreach for the 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 2024 (Co-Chair 2023, Head of Communications 2022)
• Leading the 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 (together with @Jelena Gildehaus)
• ... And regularly sharing ideas and experiences on 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 that I am passionate about.


Please feel free to reach out to chat about any of these topics! I'd love to get to know you a little bit better :)

I recently heard an MIT professor say this, and it changed my life:

— Rat Race — 

As an undergrad, you work like a rat to get into a PhD program.
As a PhD student, you work like a rat to become a postdoc.
As a postdoc, you work like a rat to become an assistant professor.
As an assistant professor, you work like a rat to become a full professor.

And when you finally become a full professor...
congratulations,
you've become the rat.

Kai Krautter

Researching Passion for Work @ Harvard Business School

I have no idea how this happened, but I feel incredibly honored and privileged to be selected as one of the Top 10 Behavioral Science Voices *worldwide* on LinkedIn for 2025.

Posting about science on LinkedIn is not an easy feat. At least for me, my reach tends to dramatically drop the more actual science I include in a post. Still, my goal on this platform is to change that, and I won’t give up on writing the content I believe in, slowly but steadily.

This recognition genuinely means a lot because, for a long time, I struggled to articulate why I was even active on LinkedIn. Whenever someone asked what I hoped to achieve here (and many have), I never really had an answer.

For the first time, I feel like things are starting to work. Over the past four years, I’ve been able to build a following that no longer penalizes me (as much) when a post doesn’t include a selfie or a headline with the word “Harvard.” For the first time, when you scroll through my feed, you’ll find my ideas, thoughts, and opinions presented in the way I actually want to share them. I’m deeply grateful for that.

There’s still a long way to go, and I definitely have a lot left to learn, but thank you for being part of this journey so far. And thank you to Favikon for this recognition. Onwards!

Yesterday I had Thanksgiving lunch in Annenberg Hall at Harvard University, which already made the day feel special because PhD students almost never get the chance to eat there.

I grabbed a plate of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes and found a seat at one of the long tables, and funnily enough, I heard people on both sides of me speaking German. I met several people who had attended the German American Conference two weeks ago, which genuinely warmed my heart.

Over the years, Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday in the US. I like that it is simply about good food, taking a break, and appreciating the people around you. Sitting there in the middle of a busy week, in a space I do not usually get to enter, reminded me of how much there is to be grateful for.

I still remember the first time I finished a paper.

I leaned back in my chair, stretched, and thought:
“Nice. That wasn’t that bad. Done. I’ll just fix a few typos and then submit.”

I sent it to my advisor feeling pretty proud.

She sent the document back and it looked like it had been in a fight—more red than black, comments and questions in every margin.

My first reaction was:
“Wait… but I’ve already written the paper…”

Here’s what I eventually learned: writing a paper is not really about writing it. It’s about rewriting it. Again and again.

We often imagine other researchers sitting down, pouring out brilliant ideas in one smooth draft and then—boom—submission (and acceptance). 

But that’s not what’s happening.

People who publish a lot don’t write faster.

They rewrite more. They’re willing to go back in, restructure, clarify, cut, and polish long after it feels “good enough.”

So the next time you’re staring at your “finished” draft and thinking,
“I just want to submit it like this,”
try to see it differently.

That draft is not the final product. 
It’s the starting point.

Your paper doesn’t become good when you finish writing it.
It becomes good when you’re brave enough to rewrite it—
even when that means cutting your favorite sentences.

How many people can fit into one dorm room on the Harvard Business School campus?

It feels fitting that my last post about this year’s German American Conference is dedicated to our team, because they truly are the make-or-break factor behind everything we do.

For most of the year, we are scattered across the world: Boston, other parts of the US, Germany, Japan, and more. As Chief of Staff, I can confirm that trying to schedule a team meeting across those time zones is... character-building.

And yet, despite the distance, we are a real team.

We laugh together.
We cry together.
We get frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, grateful, and proud... and often all within the same hour.

We care deeply, because we are all trying to build a massive puzzle made of pieces that never quite fit at first. So we cut, reshape, reinvent, and occasionally let go of pieces until, toward the very end, a new picture emerges.

As Jonas Bruns said at the end of the conference, our big red GAC banner was the perfect metaphor for this year. It has been a staple of the conference for many years, but this time, the poles had mysteriously disappeared (??). So we improvised: we borrowed poles from other banners, used far too much masking tape, and somehow made it work.

Beautiful on the outside, chaotic on the inside.
Just like any good conference.

When everything finally wrapped, we had one last dinner together as a team. I had to share a small moment from afterward, because before and during the conference we are mostly colleagues fighting to keep everything on track. Once it is over, we get to be friends again, or become friends for the first time. One of my personal highlights was how many people suddenly wanted to know what my tiny HBS dorm room actually looked like.

So, to answer the question: it is 20, at least.

OMG — you can finally let ChatGPT write all your LinkedIn posts again: the em-dash problem is gone!

I’m endlessly fascinated by how AI is changing our perception of language.

A recent example: I’ve been reading Percy Jackson for the very first time (written in the 2000s), and the writing style feels exactly like ChatGPT. So much so that I caught myself questioning the author’s writing skills.

But then I remembered: one of the reasons ChatGPT sounds like that is because writers like Rick Riordan were such fantastic storytellers. The model was trained on language like theirs, so of course it echoes it.

What we now perceive as “bad,” AI-sounding writing was actually highly regarded just a few years ago. And with every ChatGPT update, our sense of what counts as “good writing” shifts yet again.

So who knows... maybe the em dash will make a comeback once its “AI-ish” reputation fades. At least I hope so!! I love using it — it structures sentences so beautifully.

“Volunteers run on meaning, not pressure.” — Read my leadership lessons from organizing the 2025 German American Conference below:

Hi there! 👋 The German American Conference in Harvard is probably the biggest project I’ve ever been part of—and for the past four years, I’ve been p

Open article: What I learned as Chief of Staff at the German American Conference 2025 by Kai Krautter • 11 min read

What I learned as Chief of Staff at the German American Conference 2025

Algorithms on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc. are not a reflection of what you LIKE. They are a marketing tool based on what you RESPOND TO. Those are not the same thing.

What you interact with is not always what you value, and what holds your attention is not always what makes you happy.

It took me a very long time to understand this. When I talk to people about the kind of content they would like to see on my LinkedIn, they usually say new ideas, research, and shared knowledge. But my research posts consistently perform the worst, and my light, casual posts often perform the best.

So I understand why people who want to start creating content on this platform ask what the algorithm prefers. But I believe that is the wrong question.

In my opinion, you should never write only what the algorithm prefers. At the same time, I also have to acknowledge that if you want to grow on these platforms, you also cannot write only what you enjoy.

The real challenge is finding the balance between the two. It is about locating the sweet spot in the Venn diagram between the algorithm and you. 

BUT: if you are unsure about where to position yourself, lean toward yourself. It is your name out there, not the algorithm’s.

I sometimes joke that my path into psychology began with a TV show. 

As a teenager watching Lie to Me, I was mesmerized by the idea that tiny facial movements could reveal hidden emotions. That curiosity quickly led me to Paul Ekman (the scientist whose work inspired the series) and from there, everything clicked.

I devoured his research: microexpressions, universal emotions, the stories from his cross-cultural fieldwork, and of course his consulting for Inside Out. I didn’t yet have the language for what I was feeling, but Ekman’s work made me want to do research… and just as importantly, to communicate that research in ways that mattered to people.

Today, many of his ideas face renewed scrutiny. Debates over universality, microexpressions, and even the nature of emotions themselves remind us that science evolves over time. Ideas are refined, challenged, and sometimes (often) overturned.

But to me, that evolution is part of Ekman’s legacy. With more than 200,000 Google Scholar citations, he shaped a field so powerfully that others felt compelled to test, question, and expand it.

His influence on me is simpler: Paul Ekman was the first psychologist who made me think, “I want to study this.” He sparked the spark of curiosity that eventually led me to my own research on passion. 

He passed away recently, and even though we never met, I feel the loss.

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