Successful solutions for digital projects often arise in "protected" atmospheres. The team gets more freedom and reports mostly directly to the management. Further hierarchy levels or other organizational / content-related hurdles are eliminated.

New business models that are not developed in a creative environment, which is free from guidelines and existing ways of thinking and structures - fail more often. These models are often subject to traditional developmental stages and compromises between departments. The team has to be able to work interdisciplinary and free from these constraints - free space, centralization on the benefits and a suitable test and implementation methodology are therefore one of the most important conditions for testing innovative concepts and for successfully building them up with new approaches.

Of course, even better is the creation of its own digital unit, which can work in its own eco-system. This allows the team to be unbiased with the topics and develop corresponding prototypes. If the ideas prove to be good and successful, they will be further developed and transferred to the company.

For a successful digitization you should also say goodbye to classic management approaches and should be open-minded for the modern methods, such as Lean Startup, from Silicon Valley.

These methods lead to much faster successes through efficient and mostly agile work processes. The strong user orientation and above all the readiness of a "fail often and early" allow an development of prototypes that can be tested quickly under real user conditions. Lean startups can get such approaches to work better due to their team size and agility.

In contrast to that you have the classic companies, where a large, long-term project plan is usually created first, which is then processed from top to bottom by all departments. This approach often fails to proof that innovations even can solve the problem or if it really fits to the demand. If the product launch is not successful, a lot of money was wasted.

It is a form of corporate strategy designed to ensure that the company remains creative, innovative and close to its customers. Design thinking is described in this regard as a method set like as an approach, mindset and process.

The goal of design thinking processes in organizations and companies is it to solve a problem or task or to develop new products or business areas.

In the company, which accesses the ideas and creativity of its own employees and integrates them into innovation processes, design thinking unleashes great potential for innovation and its ability

In a company, product innovations are often developed too complex right from the start. Product-, IT developers and engineers are more concerned with a maximum number of functions and a perfect designed product from their point of view - in the worst case, hardly any of these features will help or convince customers because they do not solve the user problem or do not meet the customers need.

Design thinking attaches great importance to involve the customer in the innovation process and aligns the iterative development process towards the customer, like as the specific wishes and needs.

Data is the oil of the 21st century and more valuable than ever. It is often not about personal information, but more about the possibility of predictive modeling based on the data obtained statements and to be able to analyze behavior. Predictive maintenance - just before anything happens - is just one of the countless applications

But also the development and the digitization project itself should be primarily data-driven. For example, in a development phase, the design is considered as a subordinate critera, the data which got collected through user experience, counts the most.

The "big" players in digitization, like for example Amazon are extremely focused on metrics and always define their business goals based on KPIs.

The iterative processes of Lean Start-up methods and the consistent approach based on the collected data and KPIs are the most important criteria that predefine the next development steps of a digital innovation and make them successful.

If you are starting digitalization in the area of new business models as well, it is important to attack your own business without regard to your core business and to think like a "startup" - a reason why it is so important to create a secure space for the topic.

Disruption is always about critically analyses the existing business model to ultimately achieve new products, better products or better processes. Example: why should I sell a helicopter, I could also offer flight hours.

Such a procedure primarily requires a change management process in the company. Employees need to adopt new ways of working and agile methods - moving away from lengthy processes and planning to ongoing development processes, and thus a certain acceptance of failure.

This is best achieved by complementing the established business models with the "new" flagship projects using a domino principle. These projects, which are developed and marketed in the protected space, can be transferred to the entire company if successful and motivate the employees to accept the change process and find it "good". Nothing can be as disarming in a "guardian organization" as small development projects that have already proven live on the market that they are successful.

Digitalization also requires "digital" employees, who provide the necessary innovation within new roles and competencies. The world of work will change in the future, which means that more employees will need to be present in key digital positions. The companies need to be prepared for this change in the employee structure.

Ideally, digitalization professionals have a certain "start-up gene" and are happy to face the new challenges. Successful teams always work with the focus on user orientation to create transparent and efficient solutions.

Being open to this culture can create a win-win situation and promises success in the development and implementation of digitization.