Lucas Sauberschwarz is CEO at venture.idea, a management consultancy that supports companies in strategy, innovation and organisation. He is head of the Centre for Innovation at the renowned SGMI Management Institute St. Gallen, bestselling author of several books on new impulses for innovation, transformation and leadership. He shares his many years of experience as a keynote speaker in inspiring lectures and in-depth workshops.
Lucas Sauberschwarz in an interview:
1. What are the core subjects of your keynote speeches?
Companies today face an increasingly uncertain, complex and dynamic business environment. In conversations with business leaders, I often encounter a desire for the old stability. But change is here to stay. To be successful in the future, companies must constantly evolve and adapt to the changing environment.
In my keynote speeches, I try to inspire audiences and give them new impulses to embrace change and make their organizations future-ready. This includes topics such as resilience, agility and strategic innovation. I also want to encourage, because change is always a great opportunity for strategic development.
2. Which audiance or which branch do you reach with your speech?
My speeches are aimed at companies of all sizes and all industries, because the major changes of our time affect them all equally. I typically speak to board members, supervisory board members, entrepreneurs, and senior executives of established companies ranging from midsize businesses to large corporations. Strategy and innovation managers also benefit from my practical insights. Depending on the setting, my speeches can be tailored to meet the needs of a wide range of audiences.
3. Are you a PREMIUM SPEAKER? Where do you get your insights from?
As director of the Center for Innovation at the SGMI Management Institute St. Gallen, author and partner of the management consultancy venture.idea, I am closely involved in research. At the same time, I am in close contact with the executive boards of numerous German companies and know first-hand the challenges of today’s business environment. I have worked with DAX, Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies from over 30 industries and am an entrepreneur myself.
In my presentations, I share not only the latest scientific findings, but also surprising and inspiring insights from the real world. And I have been doing this for over ten years, in front of small and large audiences, at universities, in corporations, in family businesses, in workshops or in large halls.
4. What will be in the future? Does «time» play an important role in your work?
Today’s world is highly dynamic and uncertain. Of course, the future has always been uncertain, but today it seems more uncertain than ever. HILP events such as the Covid 19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, or the triumphant advance of generative AI are increasingly confronting the (corporate) world with major challenges, the sum of which no longer seems manageable. The stability of a few years ago, the certainty that the course for the next 5-10 years is set and a concrete goal is defined, is a thing of the past. Instead, constant adaptability is required. I call this «dynamic stability».
What sounds like a contradiction is actually quite simple: stability comes from constantly reviewing, adapting, and renewing your capabilities and competitive advantages. In other words, responding to change with consistency. This is one of the core themes of my presentations. And, of course, my presentations have to change every few months to keep up with developments. This constant change can be very enriching and fascinates me personally.
5. Tell us your life motto? What do you want to give your listeners to take with them?
My motto in life is: “Life is lived forward and understood backward.”
This can be wonderfully applied to today’s business world. With all the challenges and changes that surround us right now, a lot of the old is being thrown out. But new opportunities are also opening up, offering room for creativity, evolution and alternative solutions. Those who are willing to embrace these opportunities often find that crises that have been overcome have also brought enrichment.
Or, in the words of Paul Romer: «a crisis is a terrible thing to waste». Whether professional or personal, life is an exciting journey. It is an adventure worth taking.