Keynote by Alexander Baumgardt at NEXT Service Design 2012

“There are no recipes in here, you have to cook up your own.” So said Alexander Baumgardt (Systemic Partners) as he started his talk at NEXT Service Design. But after his 30-minutes-session on ‘Strategy is a Service’ participants of the conference, organised by SinnerSchrader, were brimming with inspiration. One point especially stuck in mind: humans first!

Baumgardt, an award-winning designer turned consultant, advocates a human centred culture within companies as well as in the market place. Because companies can only achieve their goals, if they correspond with employee goals.

“A strategist”, he says, “should understand human nature – strategy is human. And human interactions are goal-directed transactions. We are not individual creatures. Our society is driven by the force of interaction. That’s why one should concentrate on the points of interaction.”

Also humans are multisensory beings. We use all our senses to create, pass and transform information.

Baumgardt outlined that customer centricity and service orientation are key factors for sustainable success. Companies that have customer experience at their core, and project this to create added value, are less likely to be effected by the current recession.

Work creatively with paradox, uncertainty and contradiction, Baumgardt encourages his audience of service designers, strategists, companies, YOU.

Want to learn more on service and strategy: watch the video and join us at NEXT Berlin 2013!