TI CEO Podcast · episode 20
Why experience and change belong together
1-minute summary
In the twentieth episode of his CEO diary, Christoph Standl talks about why experience and change belong together. Twelve years of experience are valuable – but they must never lead to standing still. The question that currently occupies him very concretely at Tourismus Interaktiv: how do you preserve what works while staying ready to change? After twelve years you know your industry, your customers and your products very well, but the next twelve years won't be successful simply by repeating the past ones. That applies to technology as much as to the organisation: from Windows 95 and the internet, through infopoints and cloud technologies, to artificial intelligence and automation, he has experienced again and again how quickly possibilities change. At the same time his own role as CEO is changing – doing less himself, handing over more responsibility, building a strong management team and a good crew, and developing the wider environment with supervisory board, advisory board and investors for the next phase of growth. For him, experience doesn't mean clinging to existing structures as long as possible, but recognising when it is time to change something. You have to learn from the past years, preserve what is good and stay curious at the same time. Experience should give security – but never so much security that you stand still. Big changes often begin with small daily steps.
Description
Twelve years of experience are valuable. But they must never lead to standing still. In episode 20 of my CEO diary I deal with a question that currently occupies me very concretely at Tourismus Interaktiv: How do you preserve what works – while staying ready to change? After twelve years we know our industry, our customers and our products very well. But the next twelve years will not be successful simply by repeating the past twelve. That applies to technology as much as to our organisation. From Windows 95 and the internet, through our infopoints and cloud technologies, to artificial intelligence and automation, I have experienced again and again how quickly possibilities can change. At the same time, my own role as CEO is changing too. Doing less myself. Handing over more responsibility. Building a strong management team and a good crew – and developing our wider environment with supervisory board, advisory board and investors for the next phase of growth. Because for me, experience doesn't mean holding on to existing structures as long as possible. Experience also means recognising when it is time to change something. One insight is particularly important to me: The next twelve years will not be successful simply by repeating the past twelve years. We have to learn from them, preserve what is good and stay curious at the same time. Because experience should give us security – but never so much security that we stand still. Big changes often begin with small daily steps.