Carsten Rasner, director of Steinbeis SMI, getting the afterwork event underway in Berlin

From Mythical Disruption to “Go for Disruption!”

Steinbeis afterwork events in Berlin, Munich, and Stuttgart

Thanks to the work of Clayton M. Christensen 20 years ago, the term ‘disruption’ is now a unique description of how a powerful idea can turn everything on its head, destroying established business models to create completely new ones. Sadly, however, disruption is still more often wishful thinking than an everyday reality. The Steinbeis School of Management and Innovation (Steinbeis-SMI, part of Steinbeis University Berlin) dedicated one of its afterwork sessions, which are organized as part of the series of Steinbeis networking events, to this apparently paradoxical situation.

The session, which took place on November 29, 2016 in Berlin under the title From Mythical Disruption to “Go for Disruption!”, was attended by roughly 100 decision-makers and thought leaders working in management, marketing, the media, and general leadership. The aim was to discuss what firms can do to move beyond empty words and be genuinely innovative.

There were three fascinating keynote speeches at the event, each illuminating disruption from a different angle and raising some interesting questions such as whether disruption is an area where every company should want to succeed. The trend researcher and futurologist Matthias Horx kicked off the evening with a somewhat provocative examination of the topic and a plea for spirited evolution – in the hope that change can be something positive. Natalia Karbasova, digital assistant to publisher Dr. Hubert Burda and head of the Burda Bootcamp and Burda Hackday, drew on Burda examples to underscore how large companies can and must innovate now. Dr. Frank Danzinger, deputy director of Fraunhofer Supply Chain Services and manager of a project called Service Factory Nuremberg, described his first-hand experiences with Josephs ®, an open innovation lab in the pedestrian zone in Nuremberg that allows passers-by to witness the development of products and services and become actively involved in their creation and enhancements. The evening was an all-round success, thanks both to the speakers and the audience, which was enthralled by the speeches and gladly joined in the discussion before using the opportunity to network.

Steinbeis SMI has been running a series of Steinbeis networking events since the fall of 2015 under the slogan “Insights + Innovation@Steinbeis SMI.” The regular sessions take place after work, focusing on the topics of HR + Leadership, Management + Innovation, and Digital Media + Marketing. The current schedule of events could be found on the internet.

Contact

Rita Autenrieth
Steinbeis School of Management and Innovation (Steinbeis-SMI) at Steinbeis University Berlin (Berlin/Munich/Frankfurt/Stuttgart)