Workshop

My workshop was based on two questions: Whose knowledge is crucial when we design learning experiences or develop solutions to environmental conflicts? And what criteria do we use to select conceptual frameworks and reflection partners in learning or transformation processes?
“Human-centered design” is regarded by many as the state of the art. But what if the exclusive focus on human needs itself creates a blind spot in the design of our transformation processes—in terms of our capacity for empathy or innovation?
In the spirit of “more-than-human-centered design,” we therefore broadened our perspectives in the workshop and incorporated the viewpoints of other species that we might otherwise tend to overlook. What can we learn when we pause and observe how other species deal with ecological challenges? How does our view of the world change when we encounter them not as research subjects, but as our neighbors on this planet?
It was wonderful to reflect on these questions together with participants from research, practice, and politics from all over the world. We are united by a shared interest in working toward solutions for environmental conflicts that affect us all. A particularly memorable moment for me personally was the feedback from a participant who, when asked for his opinion on the experience, said: “This is a great way to foster empathy – even in engineers like me…”
Many thanks to the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), the Federal Foreign Office, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for funding this workshop.

And my special thanks go to PD Dr. Thorsten Philipp for inviting me to participate in this awesome program.
The joint reflective dialogue at the public evening event for the program “Silenced Knowledge: Transdisciplinary
Learning through Marginalized Perspectives” at the research center “Der simulierte Mensch” was also very inspiring- a particularly beautiful place to reflect together.

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In June, I took this as an opportunity to expand my expertise through the “Master Management with Artificial Intelligence” program. My day-to-day consulting work in recent years has made it all too clear that, with a holistic approach to systemic consulting, there is no way around building in-depth AI expertise in today’s world—whether in C-level coaching, training, team development, or transformation consulting.

My continuing education program at academy4ai has broadened my horizons in many ways, shown me the diversity of technical applications, provided me with deep insights into economic and social trends, and given me a firsthand experience of the ways of thinking and working in various business sectors.

During this time, it also became clear to me just how valuable my previous consulting experience is in this context. It allows me to combine this AI expertise with my many years of experience in systemic consulting, communications consulting, and change management. Because right now, that’s what matters most.

For organizations:

• Conscious design of transformation processes (rather than “shadow AI” or formal AI regulations that fail to take cultural challenges into account)
• Promotion of an agile, open-learning culture of collaboration (to better keep pace with the speed of change in our world)
• Process design expertise (to meaningfully integrate the innovation potential of AI tools into work processes without resorting to knee-jerk reactions)

For us as human beings:

• Reflective communication skills (to counteract the delusions of both humans and AI using clear, simple language free of bias)
• Appreciative leadership practices (that make expectations regarding roles, tasks, and outcomes clear both in conversation and in prompts)
• Strengthening self-management skills (to build resilience in dealing with overwhelming demands and feelings of powerlessness, given the multitude of developments over which we feel we have too little influence)

As important as it is to address the political, social, methodological, and structural issues surrounding AI, it is equally important for us as humans to remain capable of taking action in the face of these changes.

Not merely as a “human in the loop,” but as a driving force.

The training answered many of my methodological and technological questions while raising many new, more profound ones. For me, that is what competency development is all about: not just expanding knowledge and methods, but strengthening one’s own perspective and heightening awareness of what still remains to be explored.

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As part of the TU project “City as a Laboratory – Foundations of Transdisciplinary Work,” I had the great pleasure in June, at the invitation of Dr. Thorsten Philipp, to contribute a practical impulse together with Elise Graton that was entirely to my taste: “City Life Becomes Multi-Species: Meet Your Neighbours!”

“Human-centered design” is still considered an “achievement” in process design by many. An obvious perspective in an age of the Anthropocene, where everything is not only designed by, but primarily for humans.

The “More-than-Human-Design” approach questions the circle of stakeholders in process design and expands it to include the perspectives of non-human species. Here, we quickly encounter complex issues. Who is actually allowed to have “legitimate” interests here? How can one actually speak for others – especially for non-human species? And how should this be implemented methodologically soundly? Many exciting and difficult questions, especially in times of polarized, morally charged debates about identity and participation.

With “Meet your Neighbours,” we approach this task more trivially and at eye level. Inspired by the “Species Ambassadors” movement, we don’t primarily ask, “What is the dandelion good for?” or “How do we protect it?”. With this impulse, I invite us to engage at eye level and ask, “What can we actually learn from the dandelion?” or “What does it need to thrive?”.

Why do I do this? Because these questions challenge our habits of relationship building. Because as humans, we don’t appear as superior users or benevolent caregivers. From my perspective, these are exciting questions – also for leadership. This way, we illuminate blind spots in our perception, without moralizing – with humor and with all our senses.
For who defines for us from whom and how we learn? Why does connectedness and belonging need special spaces for encounter? Does a connection to nature require experiencing “intact” nature? And what happens to our understanding of belonging when neighborhood is no longer thought of as only human? And above all: What does this mean for our understanding of learning and development?

From this reflection arise connections that go far beyond “species knowledge”: patterns of unconscious perception, mechanisms of bonding and exclusion, principles of innovation development, sustainability, and process design. And thus, transdisciplinary learning spaces emerge – cost-effective, unspectacular, and full of neighbours we have previously overlooked.
Therefore, once again, many thanks to Dr. Thorsten Philipp for the invitation to co-creation and also to all human and non-human participants for the opportunity to jointly explore possibilities for transdisciplinary learning spaces for a future of coexistence in this city.

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Participatory orientation and transparency are core values of the association’s statutes. It was therefore a great honor for me to accompany this association as a consultant for organizational development processes during the transformation of the organization in the context of a generational change in management.
One of the particular highlights of the process was certainly the bbk Future Conference in the project room at ExRotaprint, to which all employees of the bbk and its subsidiaries Kulturwerk and Bildungswerk were invited. Here, it became clear once again how much motivation and power large group dialogues can generate for transparent transformation. I would like to thank the chairwomen of the board, Frauke Boggasch and Birgit Cauer, and the bbk’s general manager, Wibke Behrens, for their excellent cooperation, which made this long and profound development process possible.

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Corona has changed a lot and brought with it very special burdens, especially for school life.
The district of Heinsberg took this as an opportunity to invite pupils, teachers, school administrators, school psychologists and social workers from the district’s schools to a joint dialogue at eye level in Erkelenz on 14 March. In addition to all the impositions that this difficult time has demanded of many, the aim of this event was above all to recognise needs and potentials for shaping schools in the future: Were there also valuable experiences, experiences from the Corona time? What did we learn about ourselves and others? And what possibilities and opportunities can we make fruitful for future school development – with and without Corona – and how? I had the pleasure of co-designing this all-day interactive dialogue event with the group “Back to life” (an initiative of committed school psychologists and school social workers from the Heinsberg district). In the run-up to the planning, we had hoped to be able to hold the event in happier times. However, having already been postponed once, the sad events of the Ukraine war and the continuing high Corona numbers make it clear how urgent and important it is to draw our lessons from times of crisis in order to shape a more liveable, crisis-proof future.

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Effective feedback processes are like oxygen for the vitality of organizations. Agile organizations, in particular, need collaborative leadership and sustainable team structures. Yet many teams and leaders shy away from feedback, especially when they think they have to convey or receive “difficult messages.” Deficit-oriented evaluation criteria often contribute to feedback discussions and 360° feedback processes being misdirected, avoided, or even feared in the day-to-day operations of many institutions and companies. The Positive Leadership approach provides evidence-based strategies for using the appreciative principles of PERMA Lead to increase team satisfaction, motivation, and, consequently, productivity. In doing so, we examine the foundations of long-held beliefs about good leadership:

• Why is leadership based on “facts, force, and fear” a thing of the past, even though it’s still a sad reality in many organizations?
• Isn’t it the role of leadership to sometimes clearly address problems and point out what isn’t going well?
• Doesn’t positive leadership run the risk of fostering an atmosphere of “harmony at all costs,” where nothing critical can be addressed and every failure is glossed over as a success?
• And how can 360° feedback, in particular, help make it harder for narcissists to rise through the ranks in organizations?

I’d be happy to discuss the potential applications of this approach in a one-on-one conversation.

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Especially in times of crisis, it becomes clear how much pressure there is on people in politics and administration to take responsibility for difficult decisions. In such situations, organizations often tend to consult experts. But complex tasks cannot be solved by the expertise of individuals alone. Participatory dialog formats offer a variety of ways to design agile processes that integrate not only expertise but also the experiences and perspectives of those affected. This not only enhances the quality of decisions, but also promotes identification and sustainability in the implementation of decisions. In the discussion paper “Democracy is more than a method – competence development for more democracy in everyday work” for the Progressive Center, I took a closer look at what competence development is needed to be able to shape these processes.

Let me know if you are interested in the English version of the article.

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In cooperation with zukunftsfähig e.V., I offer you a team action that has an even more lasting effect than mere reflection and talking about ourselves and is therefore doubly meaningful: We plant trees as a team action and let ourselves get inspired by the holistic design principles of permaculture for the development process as a team. Team spirit is created when everyone is united behind a common task. By planting trees together, we create something that will stay and flourish, as a significant contribution to our ecosystem and as a unifying, insightful experience for the common everyday work: corridor enrichment in the literal sense of the word. Action and accompanying dialogue remain in a healthy relationship, because the green thumb replaces the moral index finger. Holistic thinking, planning and acting strengthens the resilience of your team and organization. Strengthen your community and ecosystem!

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