Peter Fisk

“Germany” used to mean industrial excellence, technology, reliability and quality of life.

Whilst German industry is still packed full of industrial giants – BASF to Bayer, BMW to Bosch – Germany is now also becoming a nation of entrepreneurs, harnessing the academic excellence and commercial infrastructures to create a new generation of business.

However the bigger, legacy companies, who used to be admired around the world, are struggling to embrace the new zeitgeist.

The problem with success.

Germany has been so successful in industrial engineering and production, that is has perversely been slow to look beyond product and process for new types of innovation. The academic discipline and rigorous application of proven methodologies has created a stubbornness, and stifled the free-thinking (more imaginative, more intuitive, more irreverent thinking) that is so common to many of the world’s innovation hotspots.

Having lived for a short time in southern Germany (I studied high temperature superconductivity physics at the Albert Ludwig Universitat in Freiburg im Breisgau), I became acutely aware of this “engineer” mindset. Whilst I hate stereotypes, there is something in the German psyche, that seeks logic and precision, detail and structure. It doesn’t like ambiguity, or too much change.

Having spent the last 30 years working across the world with many different companies, including German brands (such as Adidas and Allianz, Bayer and Bosch, Henkel and Lufthansa, T-Mobile and Volkswagen), I notice a difference to other countries in both West and East. Most German business people seek academic doctorates for example, becoming technical experts rather than evolving as business leaders, and continuous professional development is rare. Most German businesses are family owned, with strong influence from owners and also from unions. Most businesses are incredibly product-centric, with a services and service culture slow to take hold.

Of course German businesses have been incredibly successful – they have been the engine of European growth for the last 50 years. But their innovation has largely been incremental – making existing business, products and processes, better.

Prof Khairy Tourk, of the Stuart School of Business in Chicago, says that Germany’s strong position in fields such as automotive engineering, chemicals and factory machines has given the country a “resilience” in the face of economic adversity that made it stand out compared with other countries such as the USA and United Kingdom.

“Germany has performed brilliantly when it comes to adding new ideas to products and processes in the kinds of sectors in which it has traditionally excelled,” says Marco Annuziata, GE’s chief economist. “If you look at a BMW car you will find it packed full of the kind of incremental innovation that the Germans are good at and which gives the country a reasonable amount of self-confidence for the future” adds Tourk.

Therefore this is certainly not a criticism. But it does provoke a question, about how this approach to innovation will be sufficient in a world of more dramatic changes.

Like any successful business, it is hard to let go of the model that made you successful, and tempting to keep squeezing more out of what has worked before. However the success models of the past are unlikely to create future success.

What’s the challenge for German business?

Do German businesses have the imagination to adapt to a changing world?

Where factories are displaced by 3D printers, where robots and AI can replicate the know-how of a highly skilled worker, and where emerging markets can replicate the quality of production at much lower costs … can German leaders develop new ideas, alternative strategies and business models, innovative products and services, to compete in this new world?

The answer has to be yes … And the more enlightened German business leaders are waking up to the new challenges, and to the new challengers.

In fact, walk around the streets of Berlin, for example, and you will see a start-up culture every bit as vibrant as Silicon Valley, Stockholm or Shanghai. The youth culture, the irreverence and collaboration, of “hippy” Berlin is actually driving a new mindset in business. Gone are the suits who only see process diagrams and quality assurance, in come the punks (ok, millennials, hipsters, creatives) who have passion and vision to disrupt the status quo.

Large organisations are desperate to innovate differently too. A few companies like Siemens have truly seized the innovation challenge, but still have to work against an engrained culture of inertness. Smaller companies like Biontech who championed the mRNA vaccine development during the pandemic are a new generation, as are startups like Lilium, the flying taxi business.

Whilst some business leaders struggle to grasp the new world, others are embracing it rapidly. Design thinking, for example has become one of the most sought-after business disciplines, because its more intuitive approach is so needed. Similarly Business Model Innovation, has given the technocrats a new context for their structural thinking.

Germany’s future business vision

A new report by FTI with Handelsblatt and Pulse says “Today, Germany stands at a crossroads: it can either maintain its current course, and risk a gradual economic and societal decline, or it can choose to reinvigorate its legacy of innovation by investing in digitalization, modernization, education, and new technologies. The path of innovation is not merely a choice; Germany must assert its leadership in the 21st century. The world is being reordered, and as geopolitical tensions rise and new alliances form, a stable public and private sector leader is needed.”

And offers hope, with “The Mittelstand—the core of Germany’s economy —will play a vital role in this transformation. Together with universities, innovation hubs, government agencies, and Germany’s largest companies, the more than 1,300 “hidden champions” are poised to become global leaders in a wide range of fields. Our analysis reveals that Germany’s opportunity to lead once again is not just possible but necessary for the future prosperity of Europe and the global economy. This leadership will require a significant shift in mindset and strategy, moving away from traditional comforts towards a future-oriented, risk-embracing approach.”

In simple terms there are too scenarios for Germany over the next 10 years – somewhat akin to the fixed or growth mindset – to embrace the opportunities of a changing world, or to stagnate and decline as it seeks to retain the status quo:

A new vision for German business in 2035 emerges … “if leaders take focused, decisive action today to embrace opportunities and fully leverage the country’s strengths, Germany will continue to be a global leader in innovation” … and is built on five pillars:

• Germany as a dynamic economy fuelled by technological innovation and sectoral diversity … The strategic application of AI across sectors streamlines operations and dramatically speeds up research and development, futureproofing Germany’s economic leadership and diversity.
• Germany as the architect of advanced manufacturing … Germany’s manufacturing landscape is powered by the strategic implementation of automation. The nation excels in designing new materials at scale by leveraging synthetic biology, and additive manufacturing enables rapid, cost-effective production, minimizing reliance on imports and maximizing manufacturing flexibility.
• Germany as leader in ecological integrity and renewable innovations … Germany is on the forefront of climate innovation. Investments in renewable energy research, collaboration with leading scientific institutions, and supportive policies encourage the adoption of ecofriendly practices across all sectors. This holistic approach enables Germany to drive international standards in sustainability and climate resilience.
• Germany as global epicenter of innovation … Corporate governance incentivizes performance, risk-taking, and trial-and-error processes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Collaboration happens within companies, across departments, and externally with other private, public, and academic stakeholders in the numerous innovation clusters. The elaborate startup ecosystem makes Germany a desirable hub for global talent.
• Germany as an inclusive and unified society … Germany’s strategic focus on education and health care has fostered an inclusive society. AI-enhanced learning supports a diverse student population, and educational reforms promote social cohesion. The integration of migrants and the provision of new technologies reflect a commitment to building a unified society that values diversity, inclusion, and the well-being of all its members.

However this demands significant change, in mindsets and practical action:

Inspired by German innovators

As inspiration to think positive, explore how Germany can leverage its uncompromising engineering mindset, for a rapidly evolving digital world, here are some of Germany’s most disruptive innovators.What can you learn from these companies, which you could apply your own business?

Biontech … mRNA vaccines from covid to cancer 

As Covid-19 raged across the world, Turkish-born Uğur Şahin and his wife Özlem Türeci, transitioned their development of mRNA-based cancer therapies to create an innovative vaccine. Building an ecosystem of experts and partners around their Mainz lab, they were able to achieve in 9 months what had previously take decades. They now believe their approach could transform the future of medicine.

Blinkist … information in a blink

Sebastian Klein and his friends found it hard to continue learning after leaving university. In 2012, they launched Blinkist, an app that summarises non-fiction books in 15 minute “blinks” that can be consumed in audio or video formats.  More than 1,500 books in 16 categories are available for the platform’s one million users, from corporate culture to parenting.

Delivery Hero … from restaurant to home

Delivery Hero seeks to be the world’s leading online food ordering platform. Niclas Östberg and colleagues started the business in Berlin in 2011, and the company operates in 53 countries internationally in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and partners with 300,000 restaurants. Users can find local restaurants, filter by cuisine, browse menus, read reviews and other information like the restaurant operating times and order takeaway food online. In the UK it uses the brand name Hungry House.

ElektroCouture … the next thing in smart fashion

Lisa Lang, a former engineer, couldn’t find clothes to “express her nerdiness”, she says. In 2014, she founded and fully financed her own fashion technology house, focusing on light wearables. ElektroCouture sells LED jewellery and clothes that glow in the dark – including a jacket that changes colour based on texts it receives. Lang has produced clothing for Lufthansa, IBM and Intel and sells her collection on ASOS and Amazon.

Hello Fresh … great recipes, great cooking, great food

HelloFresh offers meal-kits including ingredients sourced from local suppliers and step-by-step recipes created on a weekly basis by their in-house culinary teams. The company delivers over 7.4 million meals a month to over 800,000 regular subscribers across the world. All countries offer omnivore (Classic Box) and vegetarian (Veggie Box) box options. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver creates recipes for HelloFresh, whilst a partnership with Vorwerk and their multi-function kitchen appliance Thermomix was launched in Germany and Austria. HelloFresh delivers custom recipes made for cooking with a Thermomix machine.

Lilium … flying taxis from Munich

Lilium is a disruptive aviation start-up based in Munich, founded in 2015. It is currently delivering on its vision of a completely new type of individual transportation and is dedicated to develop and build the world’s first fully electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet. An estimated range of up to 300 km and a top speed of 300 km/h, along with zero emissions make it the most efficient and eco-friendly individual means of transportation of our time.

N26 … the bank that wants to be different

Berlin-based startup Number26 (or now simply, N26) is trying to reinvent the bank. This might sound crazy, and that’s why the startup has processed step by step. After partnering with Wirecard for the banking back end, attracting 200,000 users  the company now has a full license to operate in Europe. “At N26, we obsess every day about great product design and blazing-fast technology. Our goal is always to make banking easy, intuitive, fast, and maybe even a little fun for you along the way.”

Siemens … the exploit and explore mindset

Siemens, the German technology business, seeks to combine the real and the digital worlds to meet the great challenges of our time. It’s diverse portfolio of industrial businesses enjoy the entrepreneurial freedom to serve their customers and markets in the best way possible, the structure is geared toward creating value for customers, creating technology with purpose and thus changing the lives for better.

Zalando … bringing happiness to Europe

Zalando is a European online retailer based in Berlin. The company’s cross-platform online store that sells shoes, clothing and other fashion items. The company was founded in Germany in 2008, and since has begun operating in fourteen European countries and worldwide with spin-offs and subsidiary companies. Zalando was created in 2008 by Rocket Internet (the start-up incubator behind many of Germany’s entrepreneurial brands), Robert Gentz and David Schneider, initially under the name Ifansho. Inspired by US online retailer Zappos, Zalando initially specialised in the sale of footwear before diversifying.

It’s time for you to change the game!

• Learn more about the Gamechangers book, and download a free extract in German
• Read my article exploring more of Germany’s favourite brands
• Read my article exploring banking innovation in Berlin
• Read my case study of Biontech CEO Uğur Şahin 
• Read my case study of Lilium’s flying taxis

AI is the biggest thing since the steam engine, and will change our world. AI is hype, AI is real.

In my 33 years in marketing, I’ve seen plenty of change, but also much that endures. The AI hype of 2023, sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, is akin to the “dotcom” moment in 1999, when the Internet really captured every business leader and marketer’s imagination.

Yes it was transformational, yes it was full of hype, and ultimately yes, it changed the future of every market and organisation. But at the same time, you still needed lots of conventional logic too. Who’s the customer, the proposition, the business model, and much more? And you still needed investors, employees, and society to be in support.

• What every executive needs to know about AI by Bain
• The CEO’s Guide to the Generative AI Revolution by BCG
• The state of AI, generative AI’s breakout year  by McKinsey

Of course, AI is just part of the technosphere which is likely to enable more change in the next 10 years, than the last 250 years. Its intelligence will drive to converge and accelerate other tech adaption – from blockchain and robotics, to genomics and quantum computing.

But ultimately, it’s not about the tech, it’s how you use the tech.

• AI Trends for Marketers 2023 by HubSpot
• The Impact of AI on Marketing by Ogilvy
• State of Marketing AI Report 2023 by MAII

Real world, right now

So how do I see organisations changing right now? I have the fortunate to work with some of the world’s leading companies – across geographies and sectors. Here are some of the real projects that I have worked on recently:

• Microsoft’s shift to AI, alongside Cloud, as their predominant proposition to corporate clients. This means their sales and marketing people take a much more bespoke, consultative approach to selling, rather than product focused as previously with selling standardised versions of software.
• Carrefour using AI to engage consumers through digital marketing and personalised shopping, using predictive analytics for recommendations, and chatbots for digital customer support. Instore, using AI for dynamic pricing, offers to mobile devices. As well as broad use of AI in supply chain and inventory management.
• Holcim  using AI to enhance client solutions with a broader range of remote diagnostic tools – digital twins to simulate physical building, energy efficiency diagnostics, predictive maintenance. Such services offer new revenue streams and ongoing relationships with construction clients, and building owners.
• Inditex’s use of AI for intelligent consumer behaviour analytics, from segmentation to range selection, store locations to online and instore merchandising, pricing and inventory management. It also uses AI in communication to personalise messaging, social media engagement, graphical imagery, and chatbots.

Any strategic decision, marketing or business generally, would take into account technology drivers. AI has become a significant component within the understanding of business drivers. So to understand AI alone, and marketing specifically, is not always obvious.

In general the majority of marketing-related AI is currently being used in

• Customer analytics, trend prediction, audience segmentation etc
• Inventory management, maintaining stocks, optimising supply etc
• Communication optimisation, personalised offers, social engagement

Increasingly it will start to take a much larger role in

• Dynamic pricing, by individual, by location, by time, by promotion
• Product development, made on demand, personalised colours etc
• Liquid engagement, across media platforms, and distribution channels
• Addressing critical issues, eg climate change, society benefits, and ethics.

AI applications in marketing

Here some of the significant ways I see AI shaping marketing right now:

• Content Creation:
  • Generative AI tools like Jasper for text generation and Midjourney for image creation support content creation. They produce text, craft images, and even generate music or code based on input and requirements.
  • For instance, if you’re working on a campaign, AI can generate custom content, saving time and effort1.
• Data Analytics:
  • AI tools automate complex data analysis and transform insights into easy-to-understand reports and compelling visualizations.
  • Previously, creating quarterly reports was a marathon task. Now, AI sifts through data, spots trends, and presents it in sleek formats, streamlining decision-making1.
• Chatbots Service:
  • AI-powered chatbots provide instant responses, handle routine inquiries, and enhance customer experiences.
  • They can engage users on websites, social media, and messaging apps, improving overall customer satisfaction2.
• Personalisation:
  • AI analyzes user behaviour, preferences, and historical data to deliver personalised recommendations.
  • Netflix, for example, uses AI algorithms to suggest movies and shows based on viewing history2.
• Predictive Analytics:
  • AI predicts customer behavior, helping marketers tailor campaigns and offers.
  • Amazon’s recommendation engine is a prime example, suggesting products based on browsing and purchase history2.
• Dynamic Pricing:
  • AI adjusts prices dynamically based on demand, competitor pricing, and other factors.
  • Airlines and e-commerce platforms use AI to optimize pricing in real time2.
• Email Marketing Optimisation:
  • AI analyzes email open rates, click-through rates, and user engagement.
  • It suggests optimal send times, subject lines, and content variations to improve email campaign performance3.
• Social Media Insights:
  • AI tools analyze social media data to understand sentiment, trends, and audience behavior.
  • Brands can refine their social media strategies based on these insights2.
• Segmentation and Targeting:
  • AI segments audiences based on demographics, behavior, and preferences.
  • Marketers can create hyper-targeted campaigns for specific customer groups2.
• Voice Search Optimization:
  • As voice search grows, AI helps optimize content for voice-based queries.
  • Brands can adapt their SEO strategies to capture voice search traffic2.

 

In November 2022, Generative AI grabbed the global conscience, with a deceptively simple new platform, ChatGPT, from Sam Altman and his team at OpenAI. It reached 100 million weekly users in two months. Instagram took more than two years.

AI, of course, has been around for some time – in 1950 Alan Turing considered how machines could out-think humanity, in 1956 John McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence”, in 1997 a chess playing computer Deep Blue beat world champion Garry Kasparov, in 1999 Sony launched the first robo-pet AiBO who developed a personality over time.

Apple’s Siri, an AI-enabled virtual assistant, was added to iPhones in 2011, while IBM’s Watson won quiz show Jeopardy, and Amazon’s Alexa made shopping smarter in 2014. Add Google Maps, Alibaba’s Citybrain, medical diagnostics, weather forecasting and driverless cars. Since releasing ChatGPT via API in March, over 2 million developers are now working on it.

Generative AI goes beyond most of the existing forms of artificial intelligence in order to create new content including text, videos, images, and more. Just as an example, last month I used AI to write a 300 page book in 6 minutes, and also turn it into an animated movie in 3 hours!

• AI is about to completely change how you use computers by Bill Gates
• What every executive needs to know about AI by Bain
• The CEO’s Guide to the Generative AI Revolution by BCG
• The state of AI, generative AI’s breakout year by McKinsey
• OpenAI and Jony Ive seek to create an AI-based device by FT

Progress as been rapid – in terms of technologies, business models, and commercial adoption. OpenAI’s GPT4 arrived in March with a subscription model, while Anthropic launched Claude, by a team of ex OpenAI-ers with a safety first mindset. In the same month Microsoft launched CoPilot, and Google introduced Bard.

Microsoft is becoming one of the most influential players in AI, not just investing $10 billion in Open AI, but also linking with Meta to launch Llama. Perplexity AI is seen as one of the most advanced interfaces. It was launched by another ex OpenAI-er Aravin Srinivas and his team in 2022, and has proved perhaps the most user-friendly so far.

In November 2023, OpenAI imploded. The board dismissing Altman and CEO, and then when almost all 700 employees protested, dismissing itself for Altman to return. The rapid progress towards Artificial General Intelligence, AGI, beyond the so-called singularity, when AI takes on a life of its own, has raised huge alarm bells, how to balance progress with caution.

DeepMind, the AI brain of Google, co-founder Mustafa Suleyman left the company this year to start Inflection AI, a personalised chatbot called PI, and also publish a book The Coming Wave, warning of the rapidly approaching dangers of powerful AI (watch his video below).

Sergei Brin says Google has been an “AI-first company” for at least a decade, but realised it was facing an existential crisis with this year’s rise of new chatbots. The end of the ubiquitous Google search, and its $225 billion ad revenue seemed night, and Brin launched a “code red”. He took personal control, fusing DeepMind and GoogleBrain, to launch Gemini, its AI to beat all others.

And Elon Musk, one of the co-founders of Open AI, who then fell out with Altman and left the organisation, because he felt its commercial race for profits was ignoring its responsibility to humanity, launched xAI and a chatbot called Grok. According to the dictionary, Grok means “to understand profoundly and intuitively”.

So how well do we understand Generative AI? Hyped as, and quite possibly, likely to create the most significant transformation of business in our lifetimes, most business leaders are still watching developments rather bemused, rather than asking how will it transform their futures.

A useful starting point is the Generative AI Bible free to download from CB Insights.

Amazon’s AI

Let’s take Amazon as an example of a company which has been using AI to revolutionise its business for more than 25 years from targeted advertising to Alexa, doorbells and drones, Prime to pharmacy. Most recent is Amazon Rufus, the new generative AI-powered conversational shopping experience. Consider:

• A more conversational Alexa with generative AI: Conversations with Alexa should be as natural as talking to a friend. With a new large language model (LLM) custom-built and optimized for voice interactions, Alexa is more intuitive than ever. The new LLM will also help Alexa understand context, so you can have back and forth conversations without having to repeat yourself, and conversations can flow more smoothly.
• Generative AI improves product listings: Product detail pages are a key source of information for Amazon shoppers. But creating compelling product titles and descriptions can take a lot of sellers’ time and effort. As a result, some detail pages are more comprehensive and useful than others. Generative AI helps sellers provide richer information with less work. It reduces the need to enter multiple pieces of specific product data, combining it into just one step. This saves time for sellers, produces more thorough product listings, and helps customers make more confident purchase decisions.
• Generative AI creates more engaging advertisements: Generative AI helps advertisers make their ads more engaging and visually rich, and delivers a better advertising experience for customers. Using the Amazon Ad Console, advertisers simply select their product and click “Generate.” In just seconds, the tool delivers a series of lifestyle and brand-themed images. For example, a toaster that was previously shown with a white background might now be on a kitchen counter next to some fruit and muffins. Short text prompts then help refine the image, and users can quickly create and test multiple versions to optimize performance.
• Thanks to generative AI, customers can pay with their palm: No wallet? No problem. Amazon used generative AI to develop Amazon One, a fast and convenient contactless identity service that enables customers to use their palm to make payments, verify their ages, or enter locations. To train the AI model, Amazon scientists used generative AI to create millions of synthetically generated images of the palm and the subcutaneous vein structure. Amazon One delivers an accuracy rate of 99.9999%, which exceeds the accuracy of other biometric alternatives—it’s even more accurate than scanning two irises. You can use Amazon One at all of the more than 500 Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. and at over 100 customer locations across the country, including Crunch Fitness, Hudson stores at airports, and multiple stadiums and entertainment venues.
• Generative AI helped Amazon eliminate checkout lines: How often do you want to grab a snack at a sporting event, but the line is too long? Using a combination of computer vision, object recognition, advanced sensors, deep learning, and generative AI, Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology allows fans to enter a concession stand, grab whatever they want, and quickly get back to their seats—without waiting in a checkout line. Amazon used generative AI to create photorealistic synthetic images and video clips that mimick realistic and sometimes rare shopping scenarios. Those include variations in store format, lighting conditions, and even crowds of shoppers—all information about situations that can be hard to find in real life and difficult to teach a computer. Just Walk Out technology is now available as a service to retailers. So far, the technology has been implemented at over 100 third-party locations at airports, stadiums, universities, convenience stores, theme parks, and other locations.

10 books on AI

Here are some more ways to catch up:

Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI

Reid Hoffman is a LinkedIn cofounder, investor at venture firm Greylock Partners, and former board member of OpenAI. As a former board member of OpenAI, Hoffman has seen up close how the large language models behind generative AI tools like ChatGPT work. His book, available as a free pdf, was written with GPT-4, the newer, more powerful version of ChatGPT.  The book is the first to be written by GPT-4, Hoffman said in a LinkedIn post announcing his work earlier this month.  “With GPT-4, I traveled through light bulb jokes, epic poems, original sci fi plots, arguments about human nature, musings on how AI might strengthen democracy, society and industries,” he wrote. “The goal, like in any good trip, was to learn as much about my traveling partner as the place I was exploring.”

Generative AI for Leaders

Amir Husain is CEO of SparkCognitio. The book covers what Generative AI is, the benefits of Generative AI (including increased productivity and new product development) and the challenges of Generative AI (including bias, security, and regulation). In then gets practical with how to develop a Generative AI strategy to help you stand out in the marketplace, how to build the right team and when to seek outside help, and best practice methods for training employees on Generative AI. It concludes with a deeper look into sequences, word embeddings, and LLMs, the progress and challenges of detecting Generative AI, and the future of Generative AI.

Generative AI: The Future of Everything

Sharad Gandhi and Christian Ehl say that Generative AI is creating one of the most significant transformations in human society. For the first time in history, we have created machines that exhibit intelligence, a quality we only associate with humans, a machine intelligence greater than most humans in many areas. We believe it will transform almost all jobs, professions and industries. Generative AI is a very powerful tool with the potential to enhance the way we live, work, make almost all decisions and develop solutions. Its power also creates significant concerns and risks for our society and humanity.

The Age of AI: And Our Human Future

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, ex Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and MIT researcher Daniel Huttenlocher are an unlikely tech trio, but explore how AI is set to reshape society.  “AI’s promise of epoch-making transformations—in society, economics, politics, and foreign policy—portends effects beyond the scope of any single author’s or field’s traditional focuses,” they say. In the time since the book was published, generative AI has made the discussion of how society will change as machines increasingly perform human tasks all the more relevant.

Companies seek to engage investors in their vision and potential. They spend many hours crafting strategies and presentations that seek to convince stockmarket analysts and investors that their company’s vision, strategies, innovations, brands and creativity will ensure that they deliver a better future, and better return on investment.

Yet most annual reports, financial statements, investor presentations are incredibly boring. They are standardised, number intensive, lack creativity, and certainly lack passion and inspiration. They are largely undifferentiated, despite that being their purpose. And while they have serious messages, and must adhere to financial regulation, this is no excuse to be dull.

Marvel Comics were different.

Back in the 1990s, the content business was a separate company, before being acquired by Disney in 2009. Marvel released their quarterly and annual financial reports to shareholders in the form of comic books.

Marvel experienced great success during the early 1990s, highlighted by the sale of 2.5 million copies of Spider-Man #1. This success paved the way for its IPO in 1991 under the leadership of Ronald Pearlman, raising over $63 million. Being a public company however, means totally different reporting requirements, and Marvel was looking for ways to communicate the Marvel Comics Universe in an engaging way; within a typically dry shareholder report.

Luckily, Gary Fishman reached out with a solution. As a lifelong comic book fan and the founder of an investor and public relations firm on Wall Street, he offered to assist the then Marvel CEO Bill Bevins in preparing Marvels upcoming quarterly report.

Utilizing the Marvel method, which involves developing the story, then the art, and finally the dialogue, Fishman crafted the Plot and made sure to write the copy in such a way that it compiled with all legal and SEC requirements. Herdling on his end, coordinated with some of Marvel’s best artists to bring the visuals to life.

This completely new way of reporting finally took form as a four-page comic book, with the Marvel characters discussing financial aspects like publishing revenues, gross profit, and revenue mix.

The next step was the annual report, and it’s safe to say that Marvel really broke new ground. They crafted a 36-page comic book, combining comics-form information introduced by Uatu the Watcher, updating us on licensing revenues, advertising, and more, along with other traditional financial tables and text.

This innovative approach quickly became a sensation, and was extensively covered by leading publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Institutional Investor. They were recognized not only for their creativeness but also for their artistic and qualitative design, winning awards from organizations like the International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences.

America is facing a book banning crisis.

Conservative politicians are silencing Black, Brown and LGBTQIA+ voices by forcing librarians to take their books off the shelf.  In 2023 alone, 3,059 books were banned – more than in any other year.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) believes that democracy relies on our freedom to read. And believes books should always be available to everyone.

The DPLA created the most up to date database of all of the books banned in America. Then, geo-fenced the exact footprint of every library that banned the books – and made those books available for any person when they are within those very libraries. Sending a strong message to the book banners – that every time they try to take a book off the shelf, the DPLA will put it right back, virtually.

The Banned Book Club was launched in partnership with President Barack Obama, the most notable defender of our freedom of speech.

The campaign reached people in the more than 20 states that have books banned with geo-located Instagram and Facebook ads, that alerted people just as they were near those offending libraries.

The Banned Book Club is a social first, digital solution designed for the future. Whenever a book is banned – it can simply be added to our dynamic database, making it available instantly in any library. Ensuring no book is ever banned again.

A few years ago I was out running along the Cape Cod seafront, passing the Hyannisport Yacht Club. It was my daily 10km route amidst the summer heat and beautiful sea views. I ran passed a young couple, just beyond the Kennedy Compound. I grunted “hi”, she smiled back, calling out “good job”. Hours later my teen daughters jealously enlightened me about my brief flirtation with Taylor Swift. Years later, she is recognised not just as one of the world’s top music artists, but as a trailblazer in how to do business too.

Swift, the 34-year old global singer-songwriter from Pennsylvania has had a significant impact on the music industry, artistically and commercially, and on popular culture too. So much so, that Harvard University this month launched a new course that pits her among cultural inspirations like the Brontes and Martin Luther King.

Her career was meteoritic from a young age. She signed a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV at 14, becoming the youngest signing in the company’s history. In 2006, she signed with Big Machine Records and released her self-titled debut album, which included the hit single “Tim McGraw”, one of the great country music stars which she went on to emulate.

Throughout her career, she has transitioned from country music to pop, releasing several successful albums, winning numerous awards, and embarking on multiple world tours. She has also been involved in various philanthropic projects.

Swift: The Harvard Class

In 2009, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” on the radio, in grocery stores, and on TV. Harvard English professor Stephanie Burt still remembers the first time she heard it, describing it as so much “better” and “more compelling” than all the other pop songs that were playing at the time.

Fourteen years later, and Burt is still a diehard Swiftie. Her interest in Swift has followed her to the classroom. Next semester, Harvard’s English Department will debut the course “Taylor Swift and Her World,” taught by Burt. In this class, students will earn college credit for their deep dives into Swift’s lyrics, music, and influence, dissecting her catalog and reading a host of authors Burt finds relevant to understanding Swift’s artistry.

The Harvard course syllabus reads “We will move through Swift’s own catalogue, including hits, deep cuts, outtakes, re-recordings, considering songwriting as its own art, distinct from poems recited or silently read. We will learn how to study fan culture, celebrity culture, adolescence, adulthood and appropriation; how to think about white texts, Southern texts, transatlantic texts, and queer subtexts. We will learn how to think about illicit affairs, and hoaxes, champagne problems and incomplete closure. We will look at her precursors, from Dolly Parton to the Border Ballads, and at work about her (such as the documentary “Miss Americana”).”

Swiftonomics: What can business learn from her?

Swift, whose net worth Forbes estimated to be around $780 million, has demonstrated a distinctive approach to strategy and marketing, a pioneer of building and influencing fanbases  in the social media age, and a savvy commercial approach too, which have been instrumental in her rise as a successful entrepreneur.

Her willingness to stay relevant and embrace change, build strong relationships, and know her worth has set a valuable example for entrepreneurs in various industries. Her impact on the music industry, her determination to own her own work and advocacy for artists’ rights, and her ability to engage and inspire her fan base have also contributed to her business success.

Inc magazine articulated 4 Swift-inspired lessons for business

The workplace has undergone a massive shift.

“Remote work and economic instability have depressed innovation and left us disconnected and disengaged. Paychecks no longer buy loyalty, happiness, and effort. Quiet quitting runs rampant, and people show up without truly showing up.

Alarmed managers are doubling down on keystroke surveillance, productivity tracking and back-to-the-office mandates, when what they should be doing is the opposite – affording employees the dignity necessary to inject purpose and motivation into their work.”

So what the connection between Purple Cows and The Song of Significance, the new book from Seth Godin? Well, the purple car became a metaphor for standing out, being different, while all around you is average. In the same way as products need to be distinctive, so does work.

How significant is your company? Does it stand out for the work it does? And how it does it? Is the work place, the work experience, and the deliverables, better than average? Or even distinctive? Or even remarkable? To compete in markets for customers and work, it needs to.

A bit more about Seth then. I first came across him in 1995. I’d just left a job managing brands like Concorde at what was then “the world’s favourite airline” and was intrigued by how brands were embracing new experiences, often enabled by tech, to engage customers more deeply.

35 year old Seth had just launched Yoyodyne, which used contests, online games, and scavenger hunts to market companies to participating users. While at Yoyodyne, he published Permission Marketing: Turning strangers into friends and friends into customers. In 1998, he sold Yoyodyne to Yahoo! for about $30 million and became Yahoo’s vice president of direct marketing.

This was dotcom boom time, when everyone was trying to grab a URL, and start some kind of online business in search of “eyeballs”. The new platforms, and the business models which slowly emerged to make them commercially viable, needed new thinking.

Being Significant

In 2003, Seth published Purple Cow with a mission to inspire companies to “make truly remarkable products that are worth marketing”. By that stage I was CEO of the world’s largest marketing community, the CIM, and I was delighted to make Purple Cow our idea of the year. I have asked him to guest edit the first edition of our new magazine, The Marketer.

As I travelled around the world, sharing the purple cow concept, it became increasingly obvious that most organisations just weren’t ready to create remarkable products. They had mediocre leaders, boring cultures, and average innovation. They needed to be remarkable inside too.

Which brings us back to The Song of Significance.

If you want your employees to live up to their full professional potential, you must give them the respect and autonomy they deserve as humans. The choice is simple: either keep treating your people as disposable and join in the AI-fueled race to the bottom, or build a significant organisation that enrolls, empowers, and trusts employees to deliver their best work, no matter where they’re working.

20 years after Purple Cow, Seth has produced a manifesto for organisations, and the teams of people who make them.  Instead of racing to the bottom, embracing surveillance and forcing people to show up, we have the chance to create a resilient, human organization that does work we’re proud of.

His new book is based on surveying 10,000 people to ask them to describe the conditions at the best job they ever had. The top answers were: “I surprised myself with what I could accomplish”, “I could work independently”, “The team built something important” and “People treated me with respect”. Maybe not that surprising, but not too common either.

The Song of Significance is actually built around three “songs”:

• The song of increase (a bold leap into possibility)
• The song of safety (facing existential threat, people shut down)
• The song of significance (creating a difference, being part of something, and doing work you are proud of)

There are some profound thoughts on the way. Such as industrial capitalism (industrialism) seeks to use power to create profits, whereas market capitalism seeks to solve problems to make a profit.

He explores 4 types of work:

• Surveillance (high stakes, low trust)
• Impersonal (low stakes, low trust)
• Comfort (low stakes, high trust)
• Significance (high stakes, high trust)

“Significant” organisations create an impact – they earn more money, attract better employees, change more lives, raise more donations, and offer better work environments.

They need to be remarkable, standing out for what they do and how they do it.

When we embrace the mutual commitments of significance, we create the conditions for a shared understanding that our work is to dance with fear, which requires significance, tension and the belief that we’re doing something that matters.

A significant job requires us to be in two places at once. Our work is to acknowledge the present situation while working hard to change the circumstances and status of those we serve.

We can learn from the edges. In the extremes, we can see the choice in front of us. Helpful questions to ask before we embark on something include:

• What’s the specific change this team is going to make?
• What’s my personal role in making this change happen?
• What do I need to support or lead this change?

Significant Organisations

Much of my work today focuses on organisations, and the people who lead them. If we can create better leaders, better organisations, then they are likely perform better too.

Today’s most effective organisations are much more adaptive,  like living organisms. They work in highly decentralised self-organising teams, more like start-ups under one roof. Teams need to be diverse and collaborative, learning to work at speed with high levels of trust and impact. Transformation is much more than digitalisation, it requires the whole organisation to reinvent itself, and probably to do so continuously.

 

Haier, the world leader in home appliances, is a ecosystem of 10,000 micro-enteprises, highly innovative and incentivised. Google did a huge study into what made teams effective, and transformed its ways of working as a result. Haufe, the German electronics engineer, has a bi-annual employee vote to agree the CEO. Dutch homecare organisation Buurtzorg empowers people to work how they judge best to achieve team goals.

• Haier, “rendanheyi” and the “teal” future of organisations
• Netflix, where “no rules” rules, with freedom in reason
• Haufe, democracy in the German engineering workplace 
• Mindera, crafting software with love, and no rules
• Google, extreme teams with psychological safety

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Work agenda, updated annually, creates a strong vision of a rapidly changing world of work, most significantly driven by the fourth industrial revolution, the challenge of technology, but also the imperative for human ingenuity. My most recent book Business Recoded builds on this, connecting it with other ideas such as Laloux’s reimagined organisations, Haier’s “rendanheyi” devolved structure, and Google Aristotle’s safe and extreme teaming:

• Future-proofed organisations – simple, flat and agile structures – connecting people and partners
• Align new technologies and skills – augmenting and enabling people to add more beyond process and machine
• Work portfolios – everyone is a project worker, internally or gig-working, lifelong learning and evolving
• Doing meaningful work – more purposeful, more responsible, more valued outcomes, particularly for GenZ
• Human-centric leadership – organisations as platforms to enable people to achieve their potential

One of the most insightful analysis of what is happening comes from Microsoft, and while they clearly have a Teams-centred tech view of of the digital workspace, they are also an organisation of 166,000 people across the world. Over the last two years I have seen at first hand how they are rapidly embracing a new work style, physical and virtual, not just where, but why and how their people approach work.

Microsoft’s report (see below) has key messages including “leaders are out of touch … productivity masks exhaustion … GenZ most at risk … authenticity drives well-being … innovation in danger … talent is everywhere”.

Teal organisations, hybrid models, B corporations, extreme teams, psychological safety, meta jobs, soft skills, project centric, GenZ engagement, new work contracts, portfolio working, employee democracy, human-tech augmentation, and much more.

Some of the biggest trends include

• Designing work for wellbeing (and the end of the work/life balance or separation)
• Unleashing human potential (beyond skills, enabling new mindsets and freedoms)
• Building superteams (power of teams, and using tech to augment the humanity)
• Adaptive strategies (embracing uncertainty, to make better decisions, with agility)
• Rearchitecting organisations (enterprise-wide mindset, more fluid, connected and human)

• Next Agenda of best ideas and priorities for business
• Business Futures Project collating all the best ideas
• Megatrends 2030 in a world accelerated by pandemic
• 49 Codes to help you develop a better business future
• 250 companies innovators shaking up the world
• 100 leaders with the courage to shape a better future
• Education that is innovative, issue-driven, action-driving
• Consulting that is collaborative, strategic and innovative
• Speaking that is inspiring, topical, engaging and actionable

 

Switzerland is a land of high peaks and deep valleys, the Swiss are a people of great character and historic ingenuity. Switzerland is one of the world’s top 10 economies by GDP, and home to some of the world’s most innovative companies.

It is also the land of science and imagination. From the UN to CERN, from cheese to chocolate, finance and pharma, Swiss-based organisations continue to shape the world. But its not just all George Clooney rowing across Lake Geneva, or Roger Federer in youthful retirement. Consider Nobel prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her business, Crispr Therapeutics, shaping the future of healthcare, with gene editing and the next generation of healthcare and humanity.

Albert Einstein, of course, loved to walk in the mountains above Bern, seeking to make sense of the physical world. Inspired by the stunning environment, he envisioned how to connect tangible and intangible, starting with qualitative imagination, leading to quantified engineering – or in his case, the relationship between energy and matter, assisted by his mathematician wife in formulating E = mc²

Across the border, Germany looks on enviously. While the Germans have lost their way in a rapidly changing world, its former industrial might now more of a rusting restraint, the Swiss power ahead.

Compare the two nations: Switzerland is 10x smaller than Germany, in geography and population. Swiss life expectancy is 3 years longer, but German are marginally healthier. Swiss GDP is double (per capita), and average income is double too. Cost of living is actually on par, although inflation 3x greater in Germany. And on average the Swiss have 30 minutes more sunshine per day!

However Switzerland is not all about Swiss banks, gigantic Toblerones, and the World Economic Forum. One of the most innovative Swiss companies of recent years is On, the sportswear business founded by Swiss triathlete Olivier Bernhard. The business has ground rapidly across the world, from a niche running brand to a lifestyle fashion icon.

30 years ago, Swatch was one of the first Swiss “game-changers” as I call them. Recognising the increasingly outdated practices of classic Swiss watch making, it reinvented the timepiece for a modern world. Funky, colourful and accessible to everyone. Swatch Group today continues to thrive and now owns many of the classic brands like Omega and Tissot.

And then there is healthcare. Running along the banks of the Rhine in Basel recently, I passed the headquarters of Roche on one side, and Novartis on the other. On another visit, to Zurich I can smell the chocolate of Nestle from the city centre. While a little south in the small town of Zug, often known as the IP capital of the world, I find Crispr Therapeutics and Coca Cola’s Hellenic Bottling Company.

While some traditional Swiss companies do still share the 20th century engineering malaise of Germany, stuck in their unionised practices and superiority mindset, many other Swiss companies have reawaken to the new world, with new agendas and priorities.

One example is Holcim, the global leader in cement, but redefining itself in a much more holistic way, as a global leader in sustainable contruction, or even sustainable urban development. Addressing its old carbon-intensive materials, it is rapidly on the path to decarbonising its own practices, embracing circular business models and innovative alternative materials.

So who are some of my favourite Swiss brands and businesses, arguably fighting above their weight in global markets, and continuing to thrive through imagination and engineering, in a world of rapid change?

In fast-changing, uncertain and tech-charged markets, innovation has become the top corporate priority.

Apple is still seen by many as the world’s most innovative company. Microsoft, however is closing the gap, both in terms of perceived innovativeness, and market value (both companies currently closing in on $3 trillion market caps). While Apple is potentially getting sidetracked by AR, with its headsets and spatial computing, Microsoft has embraced ChatGPT, and embedded it into many of its cloud-based services and worksuites.

Two “Most Innovative Companies” reports compete to rank the world’s top innovators each year.

• BCG take a more analytical approach, based around investment and outcomes. It ranks Apple first, followed by Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft. Asian companies Samsing, Huawei and BYD also make the top 10, as does Siemens, the top European innovator.
• Fast Company takes a more qualitative look at where newness and disruption are rife, with insight stories about some of the more off-beat creative businesses. It ranks OpenAI top, followed by McDonalds, Airbnb and Holdfast Collective (that’s the non-profit owner of Patagonia). Brazil’s Nubank follows, then Microsoft, Roblox, Webtoon, Ramp and Tiffany &Co.

Overall, innovation rose as a top corporate priority in 2023, with 79% of companies ranking it among their top three goals, according to BCG. As growth has slowed in core markets, the importance of being able to innovate new products and services that carry companies into new markets with new business models has increased.

Innovation at Bosch

Projects will dominate organisation work, replacing the old structures and job roles. They include labs and incubators, bringing focus, collaboration, change and speed.

Project Purple

“We’re starting a new project. It’s so secret, I can’t tell you what it  is, or who you will work for. But what I can tell you is if you choose to accept this role, you’re going to work harder than you ever have in your entire life. You’re going to have to give up nights and weekends probably for a couple years as we make this product.”

Scott Forstall sent that email as he started his role as head of Apple’s iPhone software division. Since its debut in 2007 the iPhone has become both a cultural and economic phenomenon, replacing Blackberry and Nokia as the world’s most ubiquitous smart phone and transforming the entire market.

Soon after the first iPod was released in 2002, Steve Jobs began thinking about an Apple phone and in 2005 and initiated a number of phone-related projects, including the doomed partnership with Motorola. The iPhone’s ideation phase was kept low profile, with a limited investments and small teams. Many companies launch a full-scale project for every idea they generate, mostly ending up in wasted resources.

While many in Apple were enthused about a phone, Jobs was sceptical. As the project sponsor he was a powerful source of inspiration, a fierce curator of good ideas, but not afraid to reject less good ones. When he did give the green light to “Project Purple”, in November 2014, he was fully engaged, dedicating around 40% of his personal time to supervise and lead the teams.

The Purple team was one of the most talented in tech history. Whilst they had never made a phone before, they were the best engineers, the best programmers, and the best designers around. Sworn to secrecy for two and a half years. Whilst the final product might look beautifully simple, it was excruciating work. Jobs wanted to see a demo of everything. Designers would often create mock-ups of a single design element, like a button, 50 times before it met his exacting standards.

Jobs famously launched the revolutionary phone on 29th June 2007 at Macworld. The final months had been frantic, everyone 100% focused, as the team raced to meet the fixed launch date.

Apple spent $150m developing the iPhone, according to some estimates, a smart investment given its subsequent impact on the market. It transformed Apple’s business.

1.4 million iPhones were sold in 2007 rising to 201 million by 2016, and more than a billion by 2020. iPhones account for 69% of Apple’s total revenue, with an estimated margin over 50%, generating more than $54 billion profits.

Teams beat individuals

At design firm IDEO they have a poster that dominates their workplace “Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius”.

There are two messages. Firstly that teams are more experimental, their diversity bringing more ideas and options to explore. Second, that however smart an individual might believe they are, they are unlikely to go as far or as fast at the team.

In my experience it is often the team leader who thinks they know better, and seeks to dominate the team. But it might equally be a technologist who is convinced that they know what customers want better than customers, or another person driven by their own perspective and passion.

Project teams need the uniqueness and expertise brought by individuals but combined with the power of teamwork. The same tension exists at the business level. Many organisations feel they can or should do everything themselves, rather than working collaboratively with partner organisations.

It takes a more enlightened business to know what it is best at, and then bring together others to do other tasks. Look for example at Nespresso’s business model. They know that their authority and expertise lie in coffee, and in brand and marketing. Everything else from making their coffee machines to managing their call centres, they leave to others.

From functions to projects

“Projects not functions define today’s organisation” says my good friend, and global project guru, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez. “In the past 90% of our jobs were functional roles, regular and managing, while 10% were working on projects. Today 90% of most jobs are project-based, about change and innovation, and very little of it maintaining the status quo.”

Long gone, in most organisations, are the fixed offices with big desks to support executive egos. Gone too are the more open workspace cubicles, where people still liked to claim their domains, a sense of home at work. In a paperless world of clouds and laptops, desks are really not necessary. Gone too are the job descriptions which so many employees used to seek to be clear on their tasks, and refuse to go further.

Today everyone is part of a talent pool, and needs to have the flexibility to team and reteam with different leaders, different colleagues, different projects, as required.

Consulting firms have long worked in this way, and offer a useful model to learn from. I spent almost 10 years in such an environment, and over that time worked on around 100 different projects, many in different teams, for different clients, with different leaders. Stability came in the form that I belonged to a certain skill group, with a notional leader, largely concerned with recruitment and thought leadership. My performance was a based on a formula of how I spent my time and contributed to sales and delivery, plus my broader contribution to the organisation. It was an incredibly fluid structure, responsive to clients, but also flexible personally, in where I chose to live, and how I chose to allocate my time.

Fast and collaborative projects

Project teams are most likely to bring together a diversity of talent, from different functions and organisations, employees and external talent. This is most obvious in areas like marketing, where creative agencies will work with their clients as joint teams, but equally in technological developments where expertise naturally resides outside.

Projects give an organisation more agility, to flex their size as their workload demands, to tap into skills as needed, and accelerate progress. They can embrace the same fast and lean principles as applied specifically to innovation – starting with a “minimum viable project” then testing and learning, stretching ideas but also eliminating bad ones quickly, working in parallel where possible, testing and learning to evolve once implemented.

Projects typically need dedicated team spaces to work, people to lead, processes to operate, metrics to evaluate, and incentives to reward. Most organisations already have innovation spaces, which range from creative kitchens and idea labs, through to incubators that accelerate new businesses, and venture arms to host independent start-ups.

Daimler’s Lab1886, Disney ID8 Studios, Nestle’s HENRi lab, IKEA’s Future Home incubator, Nike’s Explore Team, Shell’s TechWork Labs. Whatever the form of these different environments, they all seek to create protected and dedicated spaces where ideas can emerge, new projects and new businesses can flourish.