HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY

In the latest episode of “Hope Is Not a Strategy”, Christian Underwood speaks with Deniz Schütz and Dr. Sascha Haggenmüller about a critical question: Why are companies still hiring despite the AI boom—and how is AI really transforming M&A and value creation? The discussion centers around one key insight: technology is not the bottleneck—data is. Without clean data, efficient processes, and a soli...

In this episode of “Hope Is Not a Strategy”, Christian Underwood is joined by Prof. Ben Bensaou from INSEAD Business School to explore a fresh perspective on innovation - one that moves beyond Silicon Valley buzzwords and elite R&D departments. Ben Bensaou shares insights from over 20 years of research with more than 100 companies across the globe - from hidden champions to global corporations. Hi...

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...

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. L...

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 thi...

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...

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 challeng...

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" in...

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 partic...

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 t...

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 scene...

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 a...

This episode is our first live episode that we recorded in Luxembourg within the framework of the Sustainable Banking Forum. Our thanks go to Daniel Theobald and Jörg Ackermann who invited us and gave us the opportunity to share our thoughts on sustainability in the banking sector. We share our insights on how sustainability can work in institutions. Moreover, we discuss the question if banks are...

In this post, Christian and Jürgen, as music lovers, share a beautiful story of an unprecedented strategist from the music field. It is perfect for learning from the strategy history of the past and extrapolating from it to today's everyday strategic life. On June 09, 1915, one Lester William Polsfuss saw the light of day in Waukesha in the US state of Wisconsin. He was very interested in music fr...

In this podcast, we talk to strategy makers to demystify the myth of strategy and at the same time show how you can win with strategic work in volatile times. Success is no coincidence. For a company to be successful in the market, it needs a sound strategy. But who is able to develop strategies that can survive in the long term? Which hurdles must be overcome and which turns and curves must be ma...