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Small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, have always been drivers of innovation and change. They should serve as concrete role models for a shift in values—one that, in the author’s view, we urgently need in order to counter increasing complexity and polarization with a new way of thinking and acting that is free from dependencies.
“When I decided to write this book, I didn’t realize that it would become a book about freedom—indeed, that my book would even bear this precious ideal in its title,” explains Nils Koerber in the book’s foreword. “My aim was (and is) rather to make small and medium-sized businesses in Germany and the D-A-CH region aware of the power for change that lies within their actions and structures. It was only during the process of writing this book that it became increasingly clear to me that the courage to use this power is inextricably linked to a very specific ability: the ability to savor and enjoy the freedom that arises from radical personal responsibility.”
The book, published by Tredition, stands out for its clear language and practical focus. This is not the work of a theorist, but of an entrepreneur writing “from the heart of real life.” He has also enlisted the support of distinguished figures: neurobiologist Gerald Hüther, Soulbottle founder Georg Tarne, and seven other interviewees with whom he discusses the potential for change in companies in very concrete terms and, drawing on the thematic areas of organizational design, leadership, decision-making, communication, and ownership, he demonstrates what successful entrepreneurs do differently.
Clear Structure – Compelling Arguments
In the first part of the book, Nils Koerber explains the questions and challenges that motivated him to write this book, and in the second part, he conveys why he considers the transformative power of small and medium-sized businesses to be so important and why personal responsibility and freedom can bring about a societal turnaround. Since, as an entrepreneur, he considers it essential not just to talk but to take action, the third, dialogue-based part of the book is a matter close to his heart: Here, through numerous conversations, the focus is on identifying concrete opportunities for change.
What can we—as individuals and as a society—do right here and now, or at least begin to do, if we feel the desire for change? The book concludes with an invitation—to dare to try doing things differently and, above all, not to do it alone, because this book is, above all, one thing: a plea for community—in companies, in society, and in entrepreneurship.
Small and medium-sized business owners can initiate changes that affect society as a whole.
The enormous potential of small and medium-sized enterprises to play a formative role in society lies in their economic power, their unique structures, and their social and societal role. “We must not forget,” explains the author, “that small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.5 percent of Germany’s 3.5 million companies. If just one percent of these millions organizes itself and collectively finds new models for change, the impact will be enormous.”
Gerald Hüther, a neurobiologist, bestselling author, and bridge-builder between scientific findings and social practice, comments in the book as follows: “If not just a few, but many small and medium-sized enterprises were to follow this path—and if they were also to exchange ideas and connect with one another—the Federal Republic’s largest economic sector could be completely transformed from the ground up.”
The style of this book is appreciative, inspiring, practical, and humorous. This inspiring non-fiction book is a 300-page invitation to take action: for owners of family businesses, for CEOs, for managers, and for all people who think and act independently. Nils Koerber emphasizes: “The most important strength of the small and medium-sized business owner—which, in my view, makes him the ideal driver of effective change processes—is his ability to take responsibility.
For—in stark contrast to DAX, banking, and corporate executives—they constantly experience firsthand, both personally and financially, what it means to take risks and bear the consequences of their decisions. This is a quality that is perfectly suited for dealing with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).”
