Silicon Valley Talk - and then came Ruedi Noser...

John Sculley - ex CEO of Apple and Pepsi in conversation with Thomas Schulz - Der Spiegel.FROM CHRISTOPH OGGENFUSS*This year's Worldwebforum at Komplex 457 got underway with (too) loud music and the list of speakers had already raised expectations in advance, with the first panel, a kind of Silicon Valley talk, providing the first highlight. The discussion with the competent exponents put the current hype into perspective and provided important facts about the start-up scene. A valuable objectification of what is currently going on in the Valley around Palo Alto. The moderation of the panel by Financial Times editor Caroline Daniel was also convincing. And then Ruedi Noser joined the panel... and with his wooden, uninspired communication, the air was quickly gone. Surprising, really, as an IT entrepreneur should feel like a fish in a pond. Not so our newly elected member of the Council of States, who was unable to convincingly support the belief in a European Silicon Valley in Switzerland. His lacklustre performance made it clear that Switzerland should focus on its strengths, but at the same time needs to be culturally open to innovation, and the two subsequent keynotes from UBER and Google were also relevant and convincing. It became clear that UBER's rapid geographical growth was only possible thanks to a consistent process orientation and process innovation. Google's contribution made it clear that even in the digital age, "childlike curiosity" and questions are more important than quick answers and solutions, while the tangible leadership contribution by US Navy Captain David Marquet made it clear that the "command and control approach" has had its day, especially in the digital age. Mature bosses of the present day say bluntly: "I do not know." His book "Turn the Ship around!" is definitely inspiring reading material for managers, and the afternoon's lull was partly due to the poor moderation of the sports panel. Jessica Kastrop from Sky was neither able to tie back the less relevant long speaker from FIFA nor give the panel a dynamic - at least with the presence of ZSC NHL young star Auston Matthews. Also disappointing was the appearance of Global CEO Young&Rubicam David Sable, who unfortunately confirmed the prejudice that the advertising industry has overslept both new marketing and digitalization, but with the announcement of John Sculley there was hope that the afternoon, and thus the whole event, would be conciliatory. And indeed, Sculley's report was impressive and moving in terms of its expressiveness and authenticity - a personality of enormous creative power, despite his advanced age. Sculley is convinced that we are at a turning point. Over the past 30 years, IT has helped to create productivity tools; the future belongs to "self-learning". When asked by moderator Thomas Schulz why he doesn't play golf like his old-age colleagues, Sculley replied dryly: "My old-age colleagues have either retired or died - I don't want either!" The founder of the Worldwebforum is to be congratulated and thanked. For years, he has succeeded in bringing international exponents with "domain expertise" to Zurich and thus contributing to the development of the "little Silicon Valley".