Rolf Dobelli

Rolf Dobelli (July 15, 1966), born in Luzern, Switzerland, is a Swiss author and entrepreneur. Dobelli studied philosophy and business administration at the University of St. Gallen, where he graduated with a doctorate in the "Deconstruction of Economic Discourse" in 1995. He then went to work as the CFO and Managing Director in various Swissair subsidiaries. In 1999 he co-founded "getAbstract."

From 2001 to 2009, Dobelli hosted a weekly television show, "Seitenweise Wirtschaft," for the Swiss newspaper and media company NZZ. He also wrote a weekly column on the Art of Thinking Clearly. Dobelli founded WORLD.MINDS in 2008 to create a bridge between the science, business, and cultural communities. Speakers included: Nassim Taleb, Gerhard Schröder, F. W. de Klerk, and Matt Ridley.

He resigned from getAbstract in 2011 so that he could dedicate himself to writing. Dobelli's increasing dissatisfaction with the world of pure business was already reflected in his 2003 novel titled "35 - A Midlife Story". His 2004 book followed this, "And what do you do for a living" and his 2007 book "Who am I? 777 indiscreet questions."

Dobelli advises his readers to "avoid news consumption." He cites "fifteen reasons to avoid news" in a 2013 blog post. It is the subject of a book in English titled "Stop Reading the News: How to cope with information overload and think more clearly." Dobelli's writings are sometimes controversial. The Guardian newspaper columnist Madeleine Bunting has even gone so far as accusing his ideas on news of being "dangerous." 

In 2020, Dobelli stated on China Television that news is "A Disease for the Brain," stating further, "10 years ago I decided to go completely without news – no newspapers, no online news, no television, no radio – and it's been a very rewarding journey for me. I've saved a lot of time. I have more concentration…and have less anxiety." In 2020, in a conversation with Rob Wijnberg, Dobelli said, "news focuses mainly on exceptional events. It doesn't help you to understand the world fundamentally. And it makes you cynical and anxious".

In 2003, Diogenes Verlag (Switzerland) published his first novel, Fünfunddreissig ("Thirty-five"), followed by Und was machen Sie beruflich? ("And What Do You Do for a Living?") in 2004, Himmelreich (The Heavens) in 2006, Wer bin ich? ("Who am I?") and Turbulenzen ("Turbulence") in 2007 and Massimo Marini in 2010. The major themes in Dobelli's novels are the meaning of success and the role of randomness in business and in life.

Dobelli is the author of The Art of Thinking Clearly (Die Kunst des klaren Denkens), originally published by Carl Hanser Verlag in 2011, which was an instant success, entering Germany's Der Spiegel Bestseller list as number 1. It was the bestselling non-fiction book in Germany and Switzerland in 2012. It was translated into English in 2013 by Nicky Griffin and hit the top ten bestseller lists in the U.K., South Korea, India, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

In 2019 former Chief of Staff of the US Airforce Ronald Fogleman added the book to the top CSAF Required reading program. Dobelli presented his new book, "The Art of the Good Life," at a London School of Economics (LSE) Business Review event in October 2017. In 2020 Dobelli published "Stop Reading the News, A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life." Martin Newman, reviewing the book for the Financial Review, wrote, "'Stop Reading the News' explores the explosion of opinion-based news, the elevation of mediocrity over substance (The Kardashians!!), the way news creates the illusion of empathy, can elevate stress levels and builds a mindset that reinforces negativity".