Kursänderung
Leadership between transformation pressure and orientation
This book is currently available in German only.
I’m working on an English edition. Until then, this page provides an overview of the book, its central ideas, and what readers have said about it.
This book grew out of an observation that has stayed with me for many years:
- Most organizations don’t fail because they lack knowledge. They fail because they fail to recognize when one of their assumptions no longer holds.
Technologies change. Markets change. Organizations change. Yet the underlying challenge remains the same:
- How do people make decisions when certainties disappear?
- How does orientation emerge when experience is no longer enough?
- And what does leadership mean when no one can promise what the future will look like?
What this book is about
Kursänderung explores questions such as:
- How do you make decisions when information remains incomplete?
- How do you prevent organizations from holding on to outdated assumptions?
- How does leadership remain capable of action when predictability disappears?
- How does orientation emerge without promising simple answers?
It’s about responsibility. About decisions under uncertainty. And about the ability to change course without losing direction.
The book brings together experiences from industry, transformation, project management, leadership, and navigation.
Not as a collection of methods, but as an invitation to question your own assumptions about leadership, change, and responsibility.
Who this book is for
For leaders.
For those responsible for projects and transformation.
For consultants and coaches.
And for people who have to make decisions before all the answers are available.
What readers say about the book
„This book helped me recognize the common thread in my own leadership work. It confirms much of what has proven effective over decades of practice and also shows why some projects failed when these principles were not taken into account.“
Prof. Alfred Katzenbach
Former CIO, Research & Development, Daimler AG
Honorary Professor at the University of Stuttgart
„An authentic, practice-based book on leadership under uncertainty – with ideas that are more important today than ever.“
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Wagner
Honorary Chairman of GPM, author, and project management expert
What you shouldn’t expect
- No magic formulas.
- No formulas for success.
- No ten steps to perfect leadership.
This book doesn’t promise certainty. It explores how leadership remains possible when certainty is absent.
Why the title Kursänderung
At sea, changing course – Kursänderung in German – doesn’t mean abandoning the destination. It means responding to changing conditions without losing direction. That is exactly what this book is about.
Uncertainty doesn’t disappear just because we ignore it. New information, changing conditions, and unexpected developments are part of the reality of leadership.
Those who rigidly stick to their original course don’t remain able to act. Those who do recognize when an assumption no longer holds—and are prepared to act on it.
This book is about:
- Maintaining orientation.
- Taking responsibility.
- And changing course when reality demands it.