Jan Möllendorf on Digital Transformation and Society

Jan Möllendorf is Managing Partner at DEFACTO, a business consultancy and IT implementation support company which focuses on customer relationship management in retail. A member of CURAZE, FemaleOneZero’s innovation network, Jan faces the joys and challenges of digital transformation, and urges society to engage in discourse about it at all levels to ease the transition

1.What key issues drive today’s business?

On the one hand, the digitalization of the direct customer relationship. On the other hand, the ever-increasing complexity of the technical infrastructure for managing customer relationships.

2. ... And what the biggest challenges?

Finding the right people with the right expertise to work with customers on our behalf.

3. What innovations and tech trends do you find particularly exciting?

The transformation of the car into a communication interface, the shift in TV and movie usage patterns, and the further development of social media.

4. What products or thought leaders have excited or inspired you recently?

The Facebook Portal with its wonderful rotating screen really fascinates me. During periods of lockdown and quarantine, it has taken video telephony to another level.

I was also very impressed by Fränzi Kühne's book Was Männer nie gefragt werden: Ich frage trotzdem mal (‘What men are never asked: I still ask’). Of course, it was not all easy to accept for me, but I think the book prompts some very interesting social debates.

5. Why do cultural change and digital transformation belong together in your opinion?

As far as I’m concerned, culture is the sum of the values and norms experienced together in a society or in a company. Digital transformation changes the way we communicate with each other, how we obtain information and how this is shared in a company or society. As a result, new values are emerging and old values are being questioned, or have less relevance. The digital transformation therefore has a direct impact on our culture. We need to engage in discourse at all levels of society and support the cultural transformation.

6. In one sentence, what is a topic we should no longer be discussing in five years?

That social media is a bad thing.

7. What makes companies and leadership successful in the long run?

Companies that manage to build a consistent and stable corporate culture, but are also willing to change, will be successful in the long run.