Radio Philosophy #016 – 2039.

It is March, 30th, 2039. Our grandchildren are looking back. To March, 30th, 2009. Rick Wagoner, Boss of GM, leaves. General Motors gets another 60 days 
to come up with a new financial scheme. Frau Merkel buys time for saving Opel. She tries to foresee Opel’s future. Hearing those who want to give Opel another […]

Agile Retrospectives (Part 1)

A key artifact in all agile methods, and hence in Scrum, is the retrospective. Some agilists even go to such lengths as to say “start with retrospectives alone, the team will figure out the rest of the process themselves”. What are retrospectives then, and are they carried out? The need for retrospectives can be derived […]

The meaning of life

All my life, I have asked myself what makes my life a meaningful life. When I was into adolescence, I often despaired, because I did not seem to be able to come up with a good answer. Over the years, I improved. Nowadays, I often feel that there is, indeed, a meaning to life, even […]

Radio Philosophy #015 – SPEECH DIARRHOEA.

A hundred years ago, The cultural critic Karl Kraus of Vienna said: It will not suffice, to have no ideas of your own. You also have to be incapable of expressing them. That is why there is so much prattle all around. If you have no ideas, you need many words. The result is speech […]

Expropriation in Germany!?

A “horror vision” pervades Germany – there is the thread of expropriation of shareholders, for instance those of Hypo Real Estate. In wikipedia, you can find an excellent article on eminent domain. Karl Marx, too, whom I always mentally associated with expropriation, is amply represented in wikipedia. It is always a good idea to read […]

Experiences of a Temporary Career Soldier #1 – Start

As some other authors of this blog might know, I am myself a temporary career soldier at the German armed forces and have been with the army since July, 2002. After quite a few seminars, force practicals and leadership postings, I now know the German armed forces quite well. Over the last six years, the […]

Meat Loaves, Cigarettes, Sugardaddy, the Flight to Bali, and all in EURO.

Yesterday, I went to see “Sugardaddy” in the “Residenztheater”. Sugardaddy is played by Jörg Hube, the woman at his side is Beatrix Doderer, and the piano player is Hans Joachim Friedl. It was an “oldie-softy” type of program, wanting to hurt nobody and, above all, playful and tender. When Jörg Hube played the “Herz-Kasperl” with […]

Sunday Speeches

The electoral campaigns have started, which means the time for speeches has arrived. The President of the Federal Republic speaks in Berlin and is applauded for “giving a name to what is wrong”. He appeals to values, talks about social responsibility, judges, moralizes, suggests that everybody should accept responsibility, demands control and new rules. Also, […]