Publications
What we say
We take a stand, pass on our experience and share our knowledge.
And we moderate differences in perspective between business, politics, science and civil society.
Our videos
A QUESTION ASKED AGAIN AND AGAIN: WHAT DOES FUTURE MEAN FOR YOU?
Michael and Carsten gave their answers to the renowned Zukunftsinstitut.
TEDxBergen 2018 - How to Find Orientation in an Uncertain World
In our work, we have met many individuals, teams, companies that are struggling with uncertainty. Even whole countries need to deal with it and have to find their path into the future. In this talk, we want to share our experience on tools that help finding orientation in this uncertain world, as an individual, a team, or whole company.
The path to digital business Part 1
The world around us is changing at high speed. Keeping pace with the rapid digital transformation is one of the great challenges of our time. What skills are needed to ensure that a company will still be successful in ten years’ time? We explain the connections. [German]
Digitaler Wirtschafts Club - TV interview. How does your company become digital?
How does your company become digital? Which paths lead to digital transformation?
In addition to the fear of change, companies often lack a navigation system for digital change, a signpost. They lack a plan for the transformation and an architecture for the redesign of the company. We explain how. [German]
The path to digital business Part 2
If we know what our future looks like, what business models we will use to be successful in the digital age, then the next question immediately arises: How do we get there? This is where the d.quarks model helps. It provides orientation as to which digital capabilities we need to realize digital business models. There is a navigation on how we successfully carry out the transformation in companies. We explain the d.quarks model. [German]
Our books
Quarks are elementary building blocks of matter. Digital change in companies can also be traced back to elementary particles. These particles are called d.quarks – the building blocks of digital transformation. They refer to capabilities that a company needs in order to design, create and communicate digital value creation to customers. Always with an eye on the organization, people & skills, processes and technologies.
Carsten Hentrich and Michael Pachmajer have identified the d.quarks and describe them here for the first time in a coherent model. Using realistic case studies, they show how companies should use the d.quarks to go digital.
The book is also available in German.
In d.quarksX, Carsten Hentrich and Michael Pachmajer present a selection of the ten most important d.quarks with which companies can accelerate their path of digital transformation. [only German]
The Corona crisis is tough – for the economy, for companies, for managers. But it also offers an opportunity to work on the future now. In their e-book series, experienced authors and sparring partners Carsten Hentrich and Michael Pachmajer show how managers and doers must use the crisis as a phase of change – and make their companies more resilient to future unplanned events.
The authors present five principles, four areas of competence and a picture of the future with which organizations can make themselves immune to crisis symptoms and use the Corona crisis to invest in the sustainable development of new structures and competencies.
The e-book is available in German and English.
Our articles
In nature, innovation comes from cooperation rather than competition. We know this personally too. If we are in competition, under stress, we don’t develop anything new. We cannot be creative. Therefore, we are not the only ones to ask ourselves which design principles we in business and administration must use to develop organisations so that in the future products, services, digital services and business models are created that correspond to the principles of sustainability. Which follow the logic of a circular economy as well as a regenerative economy. We can learn more from natural ecosystems in order to become more innovative and ready for change. To work together differently, better. To overcome structures and thought patterns from the pre-digital age. And we need places where radical ideas emerge or solutions to complex problems are developed.
[German]
Michael is convinced that a new form of consulting is needed. What this has to do with morals, trees, pods and the particle accelerator at CERN, he explains in an interview with CONSULTANT career lounge. [German]
Citizen participation serves to strengthen our democracy. But how can it be done? Cocreation provides a new approach to participation: It is a design process in which the participants develop concrete solutions to social issues. For municipalities in particular, this can open new doors and shape sustainable structures for the future, according to Michael Pachmajer and Jascha Rohr, who developed the concept of the cocreative municipality with Moritz Hüneberg.
[German]
How the next federal government can initiate the renewal of the state in a greenfield approach: an incubator for administrative innovation.
An innovative and modern administration is an enabler of progress and forms the basis for a stable democracy. This requires new administrative structures and processes as well as open governance. Patrizia Nanz, Michael Pachmajer and Maja Göpel describe Dia’s concept and the introduction of an incubator for administrative innovation. An operationally effective experimental and protective space for new administrative units.
[German]
A fundamental cultural change is needed in the public administration in order to be able to lead Germany more quickly, anticipatorily and effectively through the next decades of transformations. This includes a new self-image as well as corresponding agile processes, contemporary competencies, a horizontal and vertical opening of the state, serious public participation and transparency, institutionalized cooperation with civil society, science and business, bottom-up federalism – and much more.
For the co-authors of this paper, which was published to coincide with the 2021 federal election, the modernization of public administration has become a question of the future viability of our country and our democracy. In this paper, they have contributed their many years of professional experience from administration, academia and transformation and innovation projects.
[German]
Anna Kaiser und Michael Pachmajer erkennen, auf welche Kompetenzen und Fertigkeiten es in Zukunft ankommen wird. Was unsere Kinder heute in der Schule lernen müssen. [German]
Are small and medium-sized businesses sleeping through digitisation? Yes, Carsten and Michael say so. No, says Heinz-Walter Große, B. Braun. They’re arguing. [German]
Management consultancy: The work of the consultant is changing, say Carsten Hentrich and Michael Pachmajer. For their clients, they increasingly have to bring together experts from different fields. [German]
The digital transformation is one of the biggest challenges for all companies. But do you urgently need a Chief Digital Officer for this? [German]
Instead of nipping new forms of mobility such as the electric scooter in the bud, politics and society should stand up for new infrastructures – and adopt a different attitude towards innovation, demands Michael Pachmajer in his position paper. [German]
The knowledge and tools for a mobility turnaround are already available, Michael Pachmajer believes. What is missing is cooperation between the different actors, he criticises and demands that the partners in the network take on the role of a moderator. [German]
Digitalisation, but how? Many companies are faced with this question. While most people are aware of the numerous new possibilities, the way to get there is far too rarely described. Digital experts Carsten Hentrich and Michael Pachmajer have developed a roadmap with elementary building blocks for change. Here they give 5 tips for the digitalisation of companies. [German]
Our book contributions
Family businesses need to build new skills. For this to happen in a coordinated and targeted manner, governance must be in place in the company that takes into account the new challenges of digitization. Traditional behaviours, paradigms and approaches no longer fit, they have to be replaced. Change processes must be actively shaped and driven forward by the company management. Pachmajer and Hentrich describe how to do this. [German]
To mitigate climate change, the political goal is: Germany will be climate neutral in 2045. The structural change to a climate-neutral and sustainable economy must be at the top of every company’s Agenda 2030. Companies must change faster. They must invest in five areas of competence: Future Vision Competence, Innovation Competence, Cultural Competence, Platform Competence and Network Competence. How these are to be built up is described by Michael Pachmajer in his contribution to the book “Working in the New Normality”. [German]
Pachmajer and Hentrich describe the capabilities needed to set up a digital experience centre for business development. The center provides a platform for coordinating digital initiatives in the region and better networking among the many players in business and society. The business development agencies must increasingly help the many SMEs in the digital transformation process. [German]
In the expert interview, Hentrich and Pachmajer discuss the significance, challenges and opportunities of AI for the economy. From their perspective, we are reaching a new level of capitalism. That is why we need a new trademark: Digital Trust made in Europe – our chance in using AI. [German]
If energy supply companies want to be or remain successful in the digital age, they must focus on cultural change. After all, in the end, only one thing will decide whether a digital transformation succeeds or fails: the human factor. Pachmajer, Hentrich and Heitland describe which capabilities are necessary for cultural change. [German]