The days between X‑Mas and New Year’s Eve are somewhat special for me: formally, I decide not to work, and most part of the day that’s true. But since I have been an entrepreneur all my life, there’s no distinct line between business and non-business, these days provide the time for reflections — how was the past year? — and for thoughts about goals and instruments for the approaching next year: Connecting
A few days ago I saw a photo of a burning giant 2016 symbol on Twitter. For many of us there’s no need for explanation: this year’s major events seemingly justify to regard 2016 as a lost year. And from every single event’s perspective that may be true. Before, however, let’s have a look at the positive states of mind — acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm. Should we really burn 2016? Of course, not. Acceptance I suggest
I’ve had two personal Eureka moments right after another, just recently. You know these moments: suddenly it’s all crystal-clear — and the main question is why you just did not realize it before. First, for me it’s a foregone conclusion that the blockchain is the biggest and most valuable technological innovation. If you’re interested in that stuff you can find my argument on Datarella. Privately, I have focused on something different. Interested
If you’re responsible for new product development in your company, you will be familiar with the several steps of that process. Experts mostly separate the new product development process into seven or eight steps, starting with idea generation and finishing with a post-launch review. The fact that more and more things become smart; i.e. they either feature some intelligence or they are connected and controlled through the IoT, has significant implications
The only human being who wants change is a toddler who needs a new diaper. This bon mot is especially true if a change is fundamental, if something substantial is changing, if a paradigm shifts, such as the huge Big Data paradigm shift. Now and then, things, technologies, perspectives change dramatically. If you happen to work in an industry experiencing such a change, consider yourself fortunate if you can accept or even welcome it. Many, if
Don“t panic — this headline is much less esoteric as you might think. It came to my mind today, when I saw many people mourning the death of musician David Bowie, quoting him throughout the day. I think it‘s better to internalize wisdom and be who you want to be, instead of merely quoting wise people. For this post, David Bowie“s death and the universal reactions to it are very well suited
As discussed around the same time last year, New Year’s resolutions are not for everybody. Some stick to that convention, others distance themselves for various reasons. I’ll share my personal resolution with you and invite you to try it for yourselves, no matter if you are a believer or not. Whenever I am just saying something derogative about a person or a thing I will immediately pause for a moment and I will not say it. That’s my resolution.
Today, I learned something important. In theory it should be an open secret but realizing that I can use this insight as a practical tool in everyday communications was like a Heureka for me. It’s about changing perspectives — broadening one’s mind. A few weeks ago, my business partners and I decided to coöperate with another team to jointly start a new company. The other team brings in experiences and expertise in different areas which would be
In order to solve complex problems we must join forces, coöperate and collaborate! Let’s Try More Interdisciplinarity!
In countries with a high affinity for soccer, there usually live as many soccer coaches as there are male inhabitants above 6 years. They watch the game and feel inclined as well as empowered not only to criticise but to come up with smashing proposals for enhancement. We find the same behavior in other areas, such as business: imagine you work in the marketing department and you’ve just come up with some
“Finishability” is a qualitative term that describes the ease of being able to screed and finish concrete. But you could also use it in other contexts, such as in communication. If you’re equipped with a certain finishability, people will listen to you, understand you and coöperate with you. Think of finishability as an antidote to information overload, as the Economist’s Tom Standage suggests. One of the integral features of the Internet are links
We tend to start any interaction with our fellow co-humans based on certain expectations. This is true especially for long-term private relationships as well as for business environments. What would happen if we dropped our expectations and interacted without any Interpretation of our counterpart’s reactions? Starting from my personal experiences, I suggest to skip any specific expectation regarding the reaction of your conversational partner for a week or so, be it in