David Bosshart – The former CEO of the Swiss Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) is considered as a philosopher with a penchant for provocation

At the same time, in an interview with Handelsjournal last year, he was surprised that he was even called a philosopher. Not wrong after all: David Bosshart studied philosophy and graduated with a doctorate. Here are a few more key facts about the eloquent lateral thinker: After training as a businessman, he graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Neuchâtel and completed his studies in 1991 at the University of Zurich with a doctorate in political philosophy under Hermann Lübbe.

David Bosshart – As a child he wanted to become a football coach or a secret agent.

He is known for having the courage to say uncomfortable things. This fits into his actual biography – but would have been helpful as a football coach or secret agent as well. He describes himself as a person who needs a relatively large radius.

In the Handelsjournal he recently spoke about his latest study “The End of Consumption”. It deals with the pulverization of traditional trade, with completely new markets from the areas of synthetic experiences and memories, with an interweaving of real and virtual worlds of consumption and the brain as point of sale. You drink mineral water and taste champagne, climb the Zugspitze and lie in bed. There we are again at the provocation.

David Bosshart: His work focuses on the future of consumption and social change, management and culture, globalization and political philosophy. In a conversation with the Swiss news portal watson.ch at the beginning of the year, one of his statements was:

“Realistically speaking, stagnation is already a success today. In a world in which everyone can do what they want, one has to accept a certain lack of vision. But is that bad?”

As we are now facing a very special year 2020, this statement takes on a whole new meaning.

The philosopher, who is surprised to be called so, also explained in this conversation that many people no longer want to hear the term “digital”. In his eyes, this is also related to the fact that we have far too few skilled workers capable of meeting our high expectations. And – again to the point: “In this respect, we in Europe are currently in a valley of tears.”

He is constantly amazed and frightened by the speed at which people are willing to grant access to their data online for a little more convenience. David Bosshart would like to see a www that allows people to have sovereign access to their data. He goes one step further and is thus completely with Yuval Harari. His thesis is that people have illusions about their identity. According to David Bosshart, we misjudge our behavior. Followed by another clear statement:

“In the end, our ego is not as great as we think. It consists of relatively few, modest components.”

Dr. David Bosshart has worked in scientific research, teaching, consulting and retail. From 1999 until mid 2020, he has been CEO of the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. Now he is Chairman of the Board of the G. & A. Duttweiler Foundation in Zurich. David Bosshart is the author of over 300 professional articles and is represented in numerous media.

In 2011, his book “The Age of Less – The New Prosperity Formula of the Western World” was published, a plea for the transition to the age of frugality, better consumption and new prosperity.