It was a terrifying sight: a clutter of cables, tubes and pipes was hanging down from the ceiling and gave the scenery the impression of a torture chamber, just like you know from these old b&w horror movies – hello from Dr Frankenstein!
Somehow it seemed that the grim atmosphere had no influence on the personnel working there: they were completely focussed on preparing the patient for an intervention. As I had still to learn: with ‘the patient’ they were referring to the medical case, and not necessarily to the person himself – a subtle but crucial difference. more…
He was truly ‘special’, to say it mildly… but actually he was a true choleric, hysteric and narcissistic person, narrow-minded, unforgiving and pungent according to many, many others. He would not let loose, he could be rude, direct and insensitive, but most of all he was obsessive – everything he did, and equally all others did for him, had to be perfect, nothing less. It had to be insanely great. more…
If you cannot see the forest for the trees, it doesn’t mean you can’t see at all – you just lack the focus on what’s essential. It’s just that you cannot zoom-in and cut-out all those impressions, which should not be taken into account.
This happens a lot, for instance when you scan the shelves in a store, to find the appropriate offer – in most cases, you walk-out without buying anything: overload leads to paralysis, too much information hampers recognition of the essential – it makes you uncertain. more…
It starts to irritate me, the more and more I’m confronted with it: the job-title ‘design manager’.
And the longer I spin my head around it, the more this title ends up being an oxymoron (Greek for ‘oxy’ = sharp and ‘moron’ = foolish) – next to this it’s also not clear to me, which part in the title is the ‘sharp’ one, which the ‘foolish’! more…
They are definitively different, to my opinion… or is it that I get older and fall into the same trap as my parents and their parents did before me: into the one of ignorance? With them, I refer to the youth, of course. No, the current generation is a definitively different one! more…
Risk-avoidance is the topic of concern, even more so, since we do all now fear that the same fate as to those poor people in Japan could happen to us as well. The collective angst, which predominantly finds fertile ground here in Germany, is in line with one of our basic needs – security: we do want the world to work according to our desires and vision – safe, in order, fair and fortunate.
That’s why politicians will do everything to ensure us that they can protect this state of heaven – and with that, hope for our vote.
We need innovation to progress.
We need innovation to keep our economic cycle going, which is still based on consuming and renewing.
We need innovation to help us climb the ladder of human needs, on our way to reach the final step… Innovation is there to bring us this advantage: Like a seed, it holds the key to continuity. For our economy and society, it creates value and prosperity, and in our economic system, it‘s a measure to sustain against the competition.
This saying is widely known: it urges us to treat others in a similar fashion as one would like to be treated oneself. And, as in most cases concerning proverbs and other hints for good behaviour, nobody is really sticking to them. But there is no smoke without fire…
On the long run, a sustainable approach to business is more rewarding than only going for a quick harvest: if greed prevails, sustainability is at risk. Where this can lead to, can easily be explained by any farmer who is running a farm, which he inherited from his great-grandfathers.
The temptation is huge though, to only focus on the biggest possible harvest. In the end, the only thing which counts is the fruits (of labour) – it’s all about the apples! more…