wennov8 - Leading in Times of Uncertainty
Coaching Leaders. Building a Flexible Organizational Muscle. Incubating Businesses.
WHO WE ARE
I have always been focused on creating new products, new services and new businesses in times of extreme uncertainty. Early on in my career I followed nicely designed development paths to create new products: in large corporate organizations you follow the process for core product development. However, as soon as you think about creating products or services adjacent to the core or exploring new business, the frameworks don't work anymore: because you need talent that is not available, you want to validate with customers who are not the company's regular clients, you want to try a new business model that is unheard of, etc.
That's why we built a venture organization within corporate to 'fake' startup behavior, to move faster, to be leaner. But oftentimes it felt like we were gorillas in the zoo: a special cage where we could do a lot of stuff, to the envy of others; but it was also a place where nobody would let you out, unless you thoroughly changed ... to adapt more to the core company. We nevertheless were able to launch several interesting new products and businesses, and some even grew into full-fledged business units. From fake startups we moved into real startups through company building efforts outside the corporate walls resulting in faster recruiting, faster validation, etc.
What I learned as a leader is to be agile and flexible, be creative and resourceful to adapt to changing environments. Be purposeful and focus on development and growth of talent. Be frugal in discovery, development and validation. Be transparent in communication and even more so listening to all the stakeholders from employees to clients to partners to investors. I built ambidextrous organizations focusing on exploration and execution, I introduced lean and agile principles, I created open innovation capabilities, and I built incubators, accelerators and company builders.
I have been blessed to work in areas that make a difference, not just for me but also for the organizations I work with, the industry and society broadly speaking. The organizations and startups I guided, coached and mentored are in the areas of broadband communication, sustainability and energy efficiency, automotive and mobility, smart manufacturing, and in climate and energy tech. I worked with founders and entrepreneurs, with investors, with corporate officers, and with broader startup communities.
