Insights. Insights.

Fünf intensive Tage in Wiener Neustadt. Grundzertifizierung zum LSP-Facilitator, direkt weiter zur Advanced Facilitator Ausbildung.

Was mich am meisten überrascht hat, war nicht die Methode selbst.

Es war der Raum, der dadurch entstand. Auch die Introvertierten waren sofort am Bauen. Kein Zögern, kein Abwarten, wer zuerst spricht. Die Steine haben den Raum demokratisiert.

Das hat mich an etwas erinnert, das ich aus zwanzig Jahren Strategie- und Innovationsarbeit kenne: Präsentationen mit achtzig Folien, die alles erklären und nichts entscheiden. Workshops, in denen Komplexität verwaltet, aber nicht aufgelöst wird. Und immer dieselben fünf Personen, die das Gespräch dominieren.

LEGO Serious Play dreht das um. Wer einen komplexen Gedanken in ein Modell aus ein paar Steinen übersetzen muss, wird gezwungen zu entscheiden, was das Wesentliche ist. Das ist keine spielerische Übung. Das ist Priorisierung in ihrer direktesten Form.

Ich bin jetzt zertifizierter LSP-Facilitator und Advanced Facilitator. Ich freue mich darauf, das dort einzusetzen, wo es wirklich gebraucht wird.

This photo was taken a while ago. I kept it because it shows something I find hard to explain otherwise.

The hands form a frame. The frame itself is blurred. What comes into focus is only visible through it.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, while sharpening my own offering.

I wasn't asking how to optimize what I already had. At some point the question shifted: what could this actually become?

That's when a new format emerged. A signature workshop combining LEGO Serious Play, TRIZ and AI. The AI component doesn't interpret the models visually. It does something more specific: participants explain their constructions and name the contradictions they see. That explanation gets matched against the 40 TRIZ innovation principles by a trained model, turning what someone built with their hands into a structured starting point for solving what they couldn't articulate before.

Not an add-on to something existing. A different thing entirely.

Reframing didn't mean solving a problem differently. It meant stopping to see it as the same problem.

Thomas Fundneider and Markus Peschl call this a shift from what is to what could be. I've experienced what that means in practice, and it's rarely comfortable.

Einzeln vorgestellt. Jetzt im Einsatz.
Drei KI-Agenten, die in meiner täglichen Arbeit zusammenspielen: Analyse, Synthese, kritisches Hinterfragen. Nicht nacheinander, sondern als System.

Der Comic-Look macht sichtbar, was inzwischen Realität ist: Moderne Beratung ist hybrider Teamsport, auch wenn nicht alle Teammitglieder Kaffee trinken ;-)

hs consulting — das bin nicht mehr nur ich.

Sie scheitern an fehlender Klarheit, an Strategien die nicht ankommen, oder an Führungskapazität die genau dann fehlt, wenn sie gebraucht wird.

Dafür gibt es jetzt hs consulting.
hsconsulting.co.at

Ich bin Hannes Scheer. Drei Jahrzehnte in Strategie, Innovation und Produktführung, zuletzt als Head of Strategy bei der ZKW Group. Jetzt unabhängig, mit vollem Fokus auf das, was ich am besten kann: strategische Klarheit schaffen und dafür sorgen, dass sie auch umgesetzt wird.

hs consulting arbeitet mit Unternehmen in drei Feldern:

Corporate Strategy · Innovation & Product Management · Fractional Leadership

Wer gestalten will, mit dem rede ich gerne.

They're about the gap between where an organization says it's going and what it actually does on Monday morning.
I've spent more than twenty years in that gap.

At ZKW Group, I worked at the intersection of corporate strategy, innovation, and product management in a company that grew from a regional supplier to a global player inside one of the world's largest electronics corporations. The problems were rarely simple. The timelines were always shorter than they should have been. And the decisions that mattered most were the ones nobody had a template for.
That's the kind of work hs consulting is built for.

Three things I do.

Corporate strategy: helping leadership teams move from vision to decisions. Scenario planning, strategic priorities, roadmaps that people actually use.

Innovation & product management: from opportunity identification to market launch. Portfolio logic, stage-gate discipline, cross-functional alignment.

Fractional leadership: stepping into Director or VP-level roles during transition, restructuring, or when an organization simply needs someone who can hit the ground running.

The clients I work best with are mid-sized to large industrial, automotive, or technology companies that are smart enough to know they have a problem and serious enough to do something about it.

If that sounds like your situation, I'd like to hear about it.

Strategy. Delivered.
hsconsulting.co.at

I meant it. I still do.

But being between chapters doesn't mean standing still.

Over the last few weeks, I've had conversations I wouldn't have had otherwise. With people working on genuinely hard problems. In organizations trying to move faster than their own structures allow. In industries where the rules are being rewritten while the game is still being played

Those conversations confirmed something I already suspected: the thinking I've spent twenty years building doesn't belong to one company or one title. It belongs to the problems worth solving.

So I made it official.

hs consulting is how I'm bringing that thinking to organizations that need it now, without the overhead of a long hiring cycle.

Strategy. Innovation. Interim leadership.
For companies navigating transition, complexity, or both.

I'm not abandoning the search for the right permanent role. That door stays open. But I'm not waiting either.

If you're working on something where strategic clarity would make a difference, let's talk.

hsconsulting.co.at

There’s something liberating about realizing that the world keeps spinning - even if your presentation wasn’t perfect, your strategy slide had one typo, or your big idea needed three iterations before it made sense.

Somewhere along the way, especially in leadership and corporate environments, we start believing that seriousness equals competence. That authority requires intensity. That impact demands constant gravity.

It doesn’t

In fact, the opposite is often true.
The leaders who create real followership are not the ones who perform perfection. They are the ones who are comfortable enough to smile at themselves. Who can admit, “That didn’t work.” Who understand that confidence and humility are not opposites, but partners.

Taking your mission seriously is essential.
Taking yourself too seriously is optional.

A wink can disarm tension in a boardroom.
A bit of humor can unlock creativity in a stuck team.
A moment of lightness can build more trust than a hundred polished words.

When you stop obsessing over how you appear, you gain space to focus on what actually matters: clarity, courage, and connection.

The irony? The less you try to look important, the more impact you tend to have.

So yes, build bold strategies. Drive performance. Raise the bar.

But every now and then, zoom out, smile, and allow yourself that small wink.
It reminds people you’re human.
And that might be your greatest leadership strength.

I am Gen X.

I was trained to work hard, stay loyal, and figure things out without much noise. Hierarchies were normal. Long hours were expected. Strategy was built step by step.

And I truly enjoy working with younger generations.

They are faster. More direct. Less patient with politics. They question earlier and expect purpose, not just process. They care deeply about impact, authenticity, and whether what we say actually matches what we do.

That can feel uncomfortable. But it is exactly this discomfort that keeps organizations alive.

As Gen X, we bring experience. We have seen cycles, crises, and long-term consequences. We know that resilience is built over time. We think in systems and trade-offs.

Younger colleagues bring clarity and courage. They challenge assumptions. They move naturally in digital environments. They refuse to accept "because we always did it this way" as an argument.

When experience meets fresh perspective, something powerful happens. Not competition between generations. But collaboration across them.

For me, working with young people is not about teaching them how the world works. It is about understanding how the world is changing.

Working between ZKW Group Headquarters in Austria and LG Vehicle Solutions in Seoul has been more than a business collaboration. It has been a lesson in culture.

In Austria, communication is direct and solution-oriented. Feedback is explicit. Hierarchies tend to be flatter, and ownership is widely distributed. Decisions move fast when alignment is achieved.

In Seoul, communication is more nuanced. Respect and harmony shape conversations. Hierarchies are clearer, and decision processes often follow structured internal alignment. Commitment and dedication to the team are remarkable.

Neither approach is better. They are different strengths.

Directness accelerates clarity.
Harmony strengthens trust.
Empowerment fuels initiative.
Structured hierarchy ensures stability.

The real advantage emerges when we combine these perspectives instead of judging them.

Cross-cultural collaboration requires more than alignment on KPIs. It requires empathy, curiosity, and the willingness to adapt your own leadership style.

Global organizations do not succeed because everyone thinks the same way. They succeed because they learn how to think together.

Picture: Global collaboration starts with understanding

Can LEGO® Serious Play® strengthen strategy work?

Strategy often lives in slides. Positioning, roadmaps, cost curves, transformation programs.

Yet many strategies fail not because of weak analysis, but because of missing alignment.

LEGO Serious Play can change that.

From abstract words to shared understanding

Terms like focus, innovation or customer centricity mean different things to different people. When leaders build their understanding of a strategic challenge as a physical model, differences become visible immediately.

You do not debate opinions.
You compare models.

That shift elevates the dialogue.

Making complexity visible

In complex organizations, dependencies and trade-offs are hard to grasp. Building value chains, technology ecosystems or future business models with bricks makes interconnections tangible.

Where do we truly differentiate?
Where are we overengineering?
What does reduction of complexity really mean?

Serious work. Playful mindset.

LEGO Serious Play is not a substitute for analysis. It complements it. It strengthens shared understanding behind strategic decisions. And maybe there is a deeper leadership lesson in it:

Take strategy seriously.
But do not take yourself too seriously ;-)

Sometimes the most powerful strategic conversation starts with a brick, not a slide.

This week, I had the pleasure of meeting Essam S. Foli, MBA again in Austria after more than ten years. The last time we met was in 2014 in Kuwait.

Back then, I was promoting Cube_S by Bene. On my way to the trip, I randomly discovered Rory’s Story Cubes at a board sale before landing. Nine dice, each with simple symbols. You roll them and create a story that connects all images. There are no wrong ideas. The meaning is open, interpretation is everything.

Spontaneously, we integrated the Story Cubes into the product training.

Instead of talking about features and specifications, we asked participants to roll the dice and link the symbols to Cube_S. A castle became a protected focus space. A bridge turned into collaboration. A key symbolized access and flexibility. What started as a playful experiment became a powerful way to translate product into narrative.

It reminded me that business development is often about storytelling. About creating meaning. About connecting symbols, people and context into something coherent.

This week, meeting Essam again at Das Loft in Vienna, we did not roll the dice. But in a way, we continued the story.

Some connections pause. The good ones simply resume.

Not because strategy doesn’t matter, but because culture decides what actually happens.

You can have the best plans, bold visions, and perfect roadmaps. If your culture is built on fear, silos, or control, execution will fail. Every time.

Culture shapes how decisions are made, how people act under pressure, and what happens when no one is watching. It’s not a soft factor. It’s a performance multiplier.

Strategy sets the direction.
Culture provides the energy.
Without energy, direction stays theory.