An ex-top manager and politician calls for a radical new beginning

Krischan Lehmann from 1E9 interviews the former politician and top manager Thomas Sattelberger, who was most recently State Secretary for the FDP in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and has just published his book “Radikal neu. Against mediocrity and decline in politics and business“. Sattelberger sees Germany in the middle of an innovation crisis. “We are not weakening, we are sick. And I can trace that back to the bursting of the dot-com bubble, i.e. around the turn of the millennium.”Sattelberger criticizes German politics and the economy in very clear terms and education for their failure to shape digital transformation, develop new business models and strengthen talent. He speaks of “late Roman decadence” and predicts a painful crisis. However, he also provides ideas on how, in his opinion, things could run better again. “The political system needs disruption. That is my deep insight from my six years in politics. The old system is inherently incapable of reform.”Sattelberger advocates a radical new way of thinking , which doesn’t fall in love with old successes, but rather creates room for experimentation for innovations. Among other things, he suggests reforming the status of civil servants, setting up special economic zones to test technological innovations and giving politicians more scope for action. Because the largest part of the state budget is now only there to cover fixed costs. Despite all the criticism, he sees the crisis as an opportunity for renewal.