“In retrospect, the corona crisis will have been the moment of reversal”
No time right now?
With the video and podcast format Changerider, etventure founder Philipp Depiereux and t3n want to take away people’s fear of digitization. In the current episode, Christoph Bornschein, co-founder of TLGG, “drives”. He reports how he perceives the crisis as an entrepreneur, where he sees opportunities and risks.
He is known for his quick way of talking and throwing around as many technical terms as possible about digitization in the shortest possible time. In the current interview with Philipp Depiereux he seems – you could almost think – relaxed. Like many others, he does not work in the office, but fled to the Canary Islands during the second lockdown. A year ago he was sitting with Philipp Depiereux in the Ego, at the SZ economic summit. Then the world changed suddenly and trade fairs, conferences and large meetings were a thing of the past due to the corona crisis.
Christoph Bornschein, co-founder of the TLGG agency, an agency for digital business, describes “Lockdown one” more as a phase of crisis management, while now in “Lockdown Zwei” productivity seems to have returned: Remote is running perfectly. But will there be a ‘bounce-back effect’? Will we go back to old routines and ways of working as soon as all of this is possible again? “On the one hand, there are board members and executives who have understood which effects will never go away. But I also believe that there are still a lot of people for whom this phase is waiting for the ‘old normal’. ”He himself was surprised how many companies want to distinguish themselves through a presence culture and are annoyed, the old one Not being able to live culture. “Many people perceive the time as an annoying intermediate state instead of concentrating on what the liberating part of it is and how much value it creates when you can integrate talent into your company from anywhere,” says the CEO.
Also interesting: a whole year in lockdown? Then continue as before!
Bornschein, also known as the pope of digital transformation, is certain that the ‘trade fair’ format has to be reinvented and with it the way sales work. “There were no trade fairs. If you look at the statistics, almost 58 percent of all respondents say that they did not experience any drop in sales, ”said the founder. But it’s not just trade fairs as a marketing tool that are changing. The area of activity for the “man in the van”, i.e. the salesperson who drives around, will change permanently, says Bornschein.
“Only when you say things 7 times have they arrived”
Many companies are now actively working on how leadership and togetherness can succeed in lockdown. Do we need new interaction formats? In communication in particular, it takes the extra mile to really reach employees. Normally, according to Bornschein, he manages strolling around the office – now everything is different: “Going to the office, picking up a coffee mug and talking to people in a relatively unstructured manner – great things happen there. This cannot be replaced by a Zoom conference. Everything that was previously done implicitly has to be made explicit now. Now you have to set up a call for this, because otherwise you won’t see the person. ”The company has launched various question formats, shared weekly videos and carried out very“ detailed communication ”. “I haven’t got there yet. It is tiring just to communicate things you already know, but it is necessary. You have to say things very often to really get through. During the crisis I never listened to a sentence more often than: Only when you say things seven times have they arrived. Communicate, communicate, communicate! “
With his agency, the founder also found a creative solution to support parents during the lockdown period: “When schools and kindergartens were closed, we tried to relieve them. For example, one of our working students simply read something remotely at two different times of the day. That worked great and the parents simply had a little time to themselves. “
“What that has shown about our education sector and its willingness to modernize is very frightening”
In addition to many challenges for companies, politicians also had to face numerous tests. Because of her crisis management she has been criticized again and again until the end. But from the agency founder’s point of view, Jens Spahn has proven how good political management can work. “Of course you can say that he ordered masks too late, but he only knew a fraction more than we did. The communication was good, the decisions were good. The criticism of the corona management begins where it becomes federal. And that’s where criticism always begins in Germany: What exactly did the ministers of education do over the summer to prepare for the winter school year, and why didn’t they do anything? ”Hardly any other topic is currently so heavily criticized as the German education system in the corona crisis. The question arises again and again: why has nothing progressed in eight weeks of summer vacation? School became a lottery for children, equality of opportunity was almost destroyed. “That is totally dramatic and in the end also culpable because nothing has been done to prevent it and enable digital teaching.” Bornschein advocates rethinking federalism. “What do you need 16 ministers of education and 16 education systems in a country? On the education side and the inability to act when it comes to education, which has now been seen ruthlessly, I no longer find any advantages, ”was his harsh judgment.
“Hardly any group has understood how it can develop into a portfolio of different value creation patterns”
But the crisis is also causing a stir in the automotive industry. To what extent will this industry innovate or reinvent itself? “Many assumed that this year the peak in car sales would come and 100 million cars would be sold. Now you have to realize that 70 million cars were sold this year, a full 20 million fewer than last year. ”The core business has shrunk to a surprisingly large extent and the pressure on the automotive industry is growing. Corporations have to adapt their strategy – the old business is going according to plan. At the same time, time is of the essence to drive the topic of electrification forward. “Then you ask yourself what historically is best: build cars and not drive mobility concepts. So full focus on it. Whether this is a good strategy remains to be seen, ”says Christoph Bornschein.
Also interesting: Daimler is investing 70 billion in electric cars and digitization
The entrepreneur himself sits on the board of directors of Lichtblick, a company that has understood how important it is to position itself more broadly in the future. “What you see is something that has already been seen during the newspaper crisis. One of the biggest problems companies face is always: you have a revenue stream that is sluggish and works well – selling cars in this case – and suddenly a company has to manage portfolios. Turning a company that can manage a revenue stream into a portfolio company is overwhelming for these large companies. One has to say that quite relentlessly: It took a lot of time because hardly any group understood how it can develop into a portfolio of different value creation patterns, ”said Christoph Bornschein’s analysis. At the same time, he still looks positively into the future – he speaks of a natural market shakeout: “At some point we will look back on the corona crisis and understand that that was the moment that moved us to turn around, towards digital business models. My view there is very, very positive. From a macroeconomic point of view, this could also turn out to be very beneficial. “
In conclusion, Christoph Bornschein speaks very positively about the political changes in the USA: “I would very, very much like to believe Joe Biden that he will use the four years to overcome the polarization of the country, and that is good and for us Europeans important.”
Do you also know lateral thinkers, game changers and tireless optimists who stand up for digital change? Nominated you as a Changerider passenger! These and all other consequences are as Video and detailed discussions in the podcast Apple Podcast, Soundcloud and Spotify available or read in the Changerider book: “Changerider: Pioneering spirits instead of doubters: How courageous doers from politics, business and society shape our future” – wherever there are books and on changerider.com.
