All episodes

#80 Leadership and strategy: Insights from Willie Peterson

#80 Leadership and strategy: Insights from Willie Peterson

39m 18s

In this episode of Hope is Not a Strategy, Christian Underwood and Jürgen Weigand welcome strategy consultant Prof. Willie Pietersen, whose “Strategy Frame” model has strongly influenced their work. Pietersen, a renowned expert in strategic learning and business management and a long-time lecturer at Columbia Business School, has used his philosophy to inspire leaders around the world to put their values at the center of their work.

A central aspect of the “Strategy Frame” model is strategic flexibility. Pietersen explains how important it is for companies to remain adaptable in a fast-moving world and to develop their strategies on a...

#11 Human is the next big thing: The Birkman Method's Role in Strategy and Leadership

#11 Human is the next big thing: The Birkman Method's Role in Strategy and Leadership

26m 43s

In this episode of "Hope is Not a Strategy" Christian Underwood is interviewing Sharon Birkman, Owner and Chair of the Board of Birkman International. We delve deep into the world of strategy and leadership. Join us as we explore the essence and uniqueness of the Birkman method, a transformative assessment approach that enhances deeper self-awareness as well as awareness for the needs of others. Learn how that has the potential to bring your strategy from creation to a successful implementation.

Discover the fascinating history of the Birkman method, pioneered by Dr. Roger Birkman starting his entrepreneurship in the fifties. Learn...

#10 The New Face of Strategy Consulting

#10 The New Face of Strategy Consulting

20m 44s

In the latest episode of "Hope is not a Strategy," hosts Christian Underwood and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Weigand explore the fascinating world of strategy consulting and take a look at the ever-evolving landscape of this industry. At a time when the business world is characterized by uncertainty, strategy consulting is becoming increasingly important and relevant. Here are some of the key points from this insightful episode:

1. the evolution of strategy consulting.

The hosts begin by examining the evolving role of strategy consulting. They point to the significant growth of the global strategy consulting market, particularly in Germany, where the...

#09 Pedro Stark: AI-powered strategic planning for your startup with gotely

#09 Pedro Stark: AI-powered strategic planning for your startup with gotely

31m 41s

In this episode of HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY, we host Pedro Stark, the founder and brain behind gotely, the first AI-powered strategy platform for startups. Pedro tells us how he went from his music career to strategy consultant and finally to the development of gotely.

gotely originates from Sweden, complies with German data privacy laws, and is focused on helping startups answer all their strategic questions in a fully digital and AI-powered way. To do this, the SaaS solution offers modules for idea validation, benchmarking, market insights and a capital raiser. Currently, the focus is still on the industries:...

#08 Steffen Bersch: The strategic journey of the SSI SCHÄFER Group

#08 Steffen Bersch: The strategic journey of the SSI SCHÄFER Group

30m 30s

In this English-language episode of "HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY," we take you on an exciting journey recorded live at StrategySummit 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Steffen Bersch, CEO of SSI SCHÄFER Group, shares fascinating insights into the strategic development of the company in a Fireside Chat with Christian Underwood.

Experience how the SSI SCHAEFER Group is dealing with current trends and challenges. In a time of volatility, the global company has had to cope with events such as the Corona crisis, the supply chain crisis and even a cyberattack over the past year and a half. The latter temporarily forced...

#07 Strategies made in Germany

#07 Strategies made in Germany

6m 50s

In dieser englischsprachigen Podcast-Folge vom StrategySummit 2023 sprechen Prof. Jürgen Weigand und Christian Underwood live über das fesselnde Thema "Made in Germany" in Zeiten des zunehmenden Wettbewerbs und der volatilen globalen Märkte.

Der Klimawandel, neue technologische Entwicklungen in den USA und China sowie die Übernahme deutscher Unternehmen werfen Fragen auf: Kann "Made in Germany" international noch mithalten?

Lerne, welche klaren Strategien bereits von anderen Regierungen verfolgt werden und ob Deutschland neben der Hoffnung auch eine fundierte Strategie besitzt, um im globalen Wettbewerb zu bestehen.

#06 From municipal energy supplier to platform for the energy transition

#06 From municipal energy supplier to platform for the energy transition

21m 49s

In this strategy interview, badenova Co-CEO Hans-Martin Hellebrand reports on the two-year journey of a municipal energy supplier with more than a century of roots to become the digital platform for the energy and heating transition in southern Germany. Christian Underwood and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Weigand get to the bottom of the secret behind the success of this strategic realignment: from the participative strategy process, to shared leadership in the highest corporate office, to agile target management with Objectives & Key Results (OKR).

Shownotes:
Website badenova: https://www.badenova.de/
Christian Underwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianunderwood/
Hope is not a strategy podcast: https://www.strategy-frame.com/pages/strategiepodcast
Order...

#05 Better decisions with market intelligence

#05 Better decisions with market intelligence

24m 26s

If you want to make good decisions, you need the necessary data and information for your relevant markets and competitors. StrategyFrame® partner Cedura helps corporate decision-makers to know their relevant markets and their competitors as well as possible, thus optimizing internal decision management. This accelerates the situation analysis within the strategy process and enables you to adjust the strategy as quickly as possible through automation and regular updates in the CedDecider software. For this purpose, CedDecider is directly integrated into the digital StrategyFrame®. This makes StrategyFrame® and the leading market intelligence provider, Cedura, an unbeatable team for your digital strategy...

#04 The digital strategy tool StrategyFrame®

#04 The digital strategy tool StrategyFrame®

32m 41s

Just in time for our book release, we are simultaneously launching our digital offering! In this episode of the podcast, I invited two technical experts and received their competent support on our new StrategyFrame® software:

Oliver Kern (Co-Founder of StrategyFrame® ) and Martin Kundt (CEO of Know How! AG, the leading provider of learning ecosystems from Stuttgart) show us around behind the scenes of StrategyFrame® and explain the features and benefits that the software can bring to your company. You'll also find out what workflow learning actually means and what role the five moments of need play in StrategyFrame®.

Shownotes:...

#03 What a precise situation analysis can do for your business strategy

#03 What a precise situation analysis can do for your business strategy

29m 40s

Strategy is a plan. A well-founded situation analysis is part of this plan. But how do you do a precise situation analysis? What exactly is behind it and how can it benefit your company? And how much time should you plan for it?

In this episode, we provide answers to these questions and go into detail about the six points of the situation analysis, so that by the end you will know how to proceed and how it can bring clarity to your business strategy.

Shownotes:
Christian Underwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianunderwood/
Prof. Jürgen Weigand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j%C3%BCrgen-weigand/
Digital Strategy tool:...