We
We are companions for the digital transformation
d.quarks supports family businesses, SMEs and the public sector in Germany in their transformation in the age of digitalisation and sustainability.
As experts for digital transformation, we look back on years of project experience, master the complexity of transformation processes and have the tools with which these processes can be successfully shaped. As creative and innovative change agents, we combine culture- and technology-changing perspectives and approaches. And as enablers of digital change, we empower people to change their organisations independently, sustainably and successfully.
In this way, we bring the most diverse particles of an organisation into a concerted movement – and create something new that lasts.
Michael and Carsten are lecturers for the MBA Digital Transformation Management at Goethe Business School and authors. Their book “d.quarks – The Path to Digital Business” was named Management Book of the Year 2016 and received the getAbstract International Book Award 2017.
Dr. Carsten Hentrich
»It’s not complicated just because it’s complex.«
Carsten Hentrich studied computer science and lives in a sleepy village in the beautiful Westerwald – a place where people greet each other by name when they meet on the street.
He prefers to be drawn into the silence of nature. Or in front of the screen. Carsten belongs to the “Commodore 64” generation, dusty terms like datasette or floppy disk are part of his early digital socialisation: he discovered his love for IT at the age of twelve and started coding.
After graduating from high school, his passion led him to study computer science, then to Oxford for a master’s degree in software engineering and then to London for a doctorate. There he discovered not only his admiration for the elegance of history and tradition, but also for researching future-proof change. A passion that has strongly influenced his professional work ever since.
In his work, Carsten is concerned with the design and realisation of positive visions of the future, in which the power of innovative technologies is a central factor. As a transformation architect with more than 20 years of experience, his strength lies in the practical handling of complexity and the sustainable implementation of structural and cultural changes. It is not for nothing that he is considered one of the pioneers in the implementation of network-like, agile IT organisations in companies today.
Carsten is also a book author and a regular inspirational speaker at the Zukunftsinstitut. He is also programme director and lecturer for digital transformation at the Goethe Business School. And as co-host of the podcast “Der Moment der Wahrheit” (The Moment of Truth), together with Michael Pachmajer, he regularly talks to exciting personalities who tell of drastic changes in their lives.
Manuel Heß
»IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO CHANGE, YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.«
Manuel Heß studied computer science and lives with his family in the Ruhr region – and likes it very much. The sometimes gruff but always warm and pragmatic mentality of this region has left its mark on him. Whether it’s sports, crafts or work: in the Ruhr region, people like to get stuck in, get things done and produce visible results. Manuel has internalised this principle.
He has been fascinated by new technologies since he was a child. This passion is so great that he also tries to pass on his IT knowledge to his two daughters. If the school system doesn’t deliver, you just have to do it yourself.
Professionally, Manuel is concerned with the sensible and sustainable use of new technologies in a business context. For over 15 years, he has been dealing with how organisations can develop, implement or optimise digital business models. The future viability of IT is particularly close to Manuel’s heart. He therefore helps organisations to completely realign their IT departments, to live up to their claim as innovators or to design sustainable IT architectures.
It is always important to him to get things done – not only to determine where you want to go, but also to start implementing it quickly. Because only with an agile and iterative approach can you quickly create validatable results that give you the certainty that you are heading for the right goal.
Michael Pachmajer
»For a successful transformation, we must be willing to change ourselves first.«
Michael Pachmajer studied geography and lives and works in a three-generation house in Frankfurt am Main – a city that is constantly on the move and full of contradictions in a very confined space. A historical place of change where people with the most diverse roots and perspectives meet. And that is precisely why it inspires him time and again.
In his work, Michael deals with the question of how we as a society can make our way of life and economy more sustainable. Already during his studies at Frankfurt’s Goethe University, he dealt early on with the changes in ecosystems as a result of climate change. With the start of the New Economy, he switched to business and worked for international corporations and consulting firms.
Today, he observes, plans and accompanies the most diverse aspects of the transformation brought about by increasing digitalisation in companies as well as in public administration. He questions, intervenes, brings people together, takes a stand and paints the world as it could be in the future.
As host of the podcast “Der Moment der Wahrheit” (The Moment of Truth), he also talks to exciting personalities about drastic events or situations in their lives that made them fundamentally question their previous actions and immediately change their behaviour.
In addition, he passionately shares his transformation experience not only as a book author, but also as a keynote speaker for the renowned Zukunftsinstitut, as a lecturer for Digital Transformation Management at the Goethe Business School and as Chairman of the Board of the Cocreation Foundation.