Call for lateral thinking to the leadership elite

Presidential kick-off

After his economic policy tour d'horizon, President Alain Berset was also asked about some very topical issues such as AHV reform and the bilateral agreement. He was able to respond to the questions in a statesmanlike and conciliatory manner without "talking out of school". Once again, the moderation team Wille/Gredig proved that they were absolutely up to the situation and the top speakers. They led the two-day conference very eloquently and humorously.

 Lateral thinker as a permanent fixture in the company

In the executive talk on the first day with Ulrich Spiesshofer, President/CEO of ABB, and Peter Spuhler, Chairman of the Board of Directors and owner of Stadler, one got the impression that lateral thinking is not only tolerated in both companies, but is a prerequisite for success in turbulent times. However, what sounded quite plausible should of course be put to the test in everyday business life - voices or tweets from the real day-to-day business of the two companies would certainly have been exciting. Although the two company managers were very convincing and approachable, at the end of the day the reality check still makes sense.

Openness to new ideas and lateral thinking as a prerequisite for success

The need for openness and lateral thinking was discussed over two days in Interlaken. Both aspects were presented as important prerequisites and drivers for the necessary change - surprisingly, the topic of marketing was not explicitly addressed. But isn't the marketing function in the company predestined to shed light on the "courant normale" from an unusual perspective and thus come up with new solutions? This observation can certainly be seen as a wake-up call for the marketing community - in my opinion, a real opportunity for positioning in the digital transformation is being missed here, so it will be interesting to see how the topic of marketing and its exponents can be included in the agenda of the SEF 2019. Incidentally, the next Swiss Economic Forum will take place in Interlaken on May 23/24, 2019.image source:NZZChristoph Oggenfuss, Front Office Architect, CE-Owner markITing ag Zurich