Dirk Bruchmann, Business Manager, TOYOTA Deutschland GmbH 

“”Yeah, but…” Ping-Pong. justification orgies. Blame.  Unproductive meetings, going off without concrete agreement. We all know it. Maybe it’s me, too? How do I communicate? Do I question concepts, opinions, decisions of others and try to understand them? Or do I just make suggestions and wonder why others don’t want the same as I do? These were probably not their suggestions after all ….. During our training as innovation coaches we were made aware of self-evident things that unfortunately are not always self-evident. For example, how to express criticism in a team, with employees or with customers: Constructive criticism instead of accusations. Or how to manage effective meetings and let the group develop goals, solutions, action plans on its own – then it’s the group’s goals and solutions. Or coaching behavior, appreciation, trust instead of rules and control. One of the most important insights for me: pause and reflect again and again. Self-reflection helps in all situations of life and work. Who only plans and implements (= Plan, Do), but does not reflect (= Check), cannot improve (= Act). It all sounds so simple, but it is not always the case. I pack my own nose and try to start with myself. And the nice thing is: I realize that it works. Not always – but more often. For me, this was a very valuable training with great group (developmental) dynamics, without any consumption – we even worked out the manual ourselves – and the highest practical relevance. And it was a lot of fun!”

Dirk Bruchmann