#13 Felix Holzapfel: Digital transformation is no rocket science

01/14/21 • 19 min

German thought leader Felix Holzapfel (Cologne) is the founder of Quovabiz in Cologne, author of the bestseller ‘Marketing among Friends’ and a member of the 'Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in Digital Transformation.'
"Digital transformation? I don't like that term at all. In 1997 we were already talking about the same subjects, it's nothing new. We should talk more about change in general. Corona hasn't changed much. We were already working digitally last year, flight shaming already existed, and we wanted to slow down our lives to focus on what's really important. All this has only accelerated."
"Digital transformation is not rocket science. Go to the cause of your problem, share it if it's too big, and involve your employees. Rome wasn't built in a day, take your time. It's less about which people you need, it's about the mindset. Look for the right mix of people and make sure they feel involved. Including the people who are in contact with your customers!"
Open up Digitals is a Fellow Digitals production.

Previous Episode

#12 Gonny Vink: Technology is important, behavioral change is crucial (Dutch)

Gonny Vink (Utrecht) is an expert on remote work. She advises organizations and teams in sustainable change at the intersection of people, organization, and technology. To be more flexible, faster, and agile. This always starts with people. Gonny is co-author of the book Never Waste a Good Crisis.
"Companies will look at how they can best set up their office, so that employees can work well together here. Also make good arrangements with your team, what does it take to be successful? Stay in discussion with each other about that."
"What you see is that many companies need to be able to communicate and hold meetings with each other remotely. But now you have to take the next step: how are we going to collaborate smartly, share knowledge, and develop remotely? Tools and technology can help you with this, behavioral change is crucial."
Open up Digitals is a Fellow Digitals production.

Next Episode

#14 Ronald Van Den Hoff: When China stopped supplying, the German automotive industry came to a standstill (Dutch)

Ronald van den Hoff (Utrecht) is a trend watcher, public speaker, and the founder of Seats2meet, active in 8 countries as a new kind of meeting, work, and conference space. Ronald has a clear vision on the changes in this society which he calls 'society 3.0.' He is the author of the book Society 3.0: a movement, a guiding light, and a change agent in our ever dynamic world.
"People of my generation sometimes say that they 'go online.' But online and offline are one world, you're constantly connected. We realize that we have a choice, you can create value and exchange knowledge in the office, at home, or in another environment. The so-called third spaces. It becomes a mix."
"The value chain is vulnerable and is going to disappear, I have always said. It is painfully clear through Corona where our weaknesses lie. All products come from China, when that stopped at the beginning of the year, even the German automotive industry came to a standstill. We need to organize this differently, with value networks. We need to make much more use of collective intelligence, share information and trust each other in this."
Open up Digitals is a Fellow Digitals production.