A good CPO is also a troublemaker. This can be uncomfortable but effective. Westend61/Getty Images
Meta, Google or Apple – they are all supposed to have so-called in-house philosophers. That sounds strange at first; The mental cinema might show a guy with small glasses and long hair sitting in a wing chair in the Google lounge and talking about Plato. Or even worse: by Karl Marx. But is this impression really correct?
The search for philosophers in business first begins on the Internet. Well-known industry giants such as investor Peter Thiel and Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffmann once studied philosophy. And a very specific term keeps appearing in the media: the Chief Philosophy Officer – i.e. a professional philosopher in a leadership position. The problem: Nobody knows anyone like that.
Sören Schuster is a fellow at the Institute for Economic Design. In German-speaking countries it is currently probably one of the best addresses when it comes to finding out to what extent philosophers are involved in companies. Because Schuster wrote a book about the role of the Chief Philosophy Officer. “We came across the term again and again at the institute,” says Schuster. “And then we wanted to know what it could be about.”