Go new rebels go ! The hour of nonconformity has come !

Good morning everybody. Hope You have already enjoyed Your breakfast and are prepared for the tough ride, to which I will invite You now. Maybe the title of my today`s blog gave You already an early warning. Anyhow I`ll explain this now to You. 

Since my early childhood - having lost my father at the age of six years, actually he died in hospital from a longer desease on December 24th, 1964 - I have been developping as an analytical, critical and often non conformist person and this had with a certain propability to a great extend to do with the circumstances of how, when and where I grew up. And young people anyhow, no matter the individual circumstances of their life, must master the challenge during their natural maturation process, to find the right way and means, to dosage their nonconformity behaviour and adapt it to the way of live they intend to start and develop. In my case the circumstances were ideal for nonconformity. It was the time of the "cold war", the US military and politics desaster in Vietnam, the time of the hippy movement, the time of massive left-wing students movements and protests in Berlin, Paris and other cities around the western world against the post world war II establishment and society, the time of the Woodstock concert and the "underground" music, movies like "Easy Rider" and a real hell of  modern, border crossing literature. 

Actually I had grown up in a very small village in the middle of nowhere in the forests close to the german city of Kaiserslautern, which the US soldiers stationed around there and in the huge US air base Ramstein used to call just "K Town" because of their dificulties to spell it`s name. When I was 12, my mother decided, to move together with me, my sister and my brother to the "big" city Mannheim just on the other side of the river Rhine.  What a ridiculous perception, seen from my today`s perspective and after all my in the meantime gained experiences with living and moving in really big cities. But anyhow to live in this "big" city and it`s - compared to the boring countryside, where I had grown up until then - exciting life, gave me completely new impulses and inspirations and at school - amongst other good and bad experiences, which I made there - I got to know good friends, with whom I still continue in contact, no matter the long time that has passed since then and also despite the great distances seperating us. 

After finishing school in Mannheim, I did my military service (wonderful stuff for a future post) in the army, studied Chemical Engineering at the at that time still called Technical Highschool of Karlsruhe (today = KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and went out into the world of work, engineering, technology, management, business etc. This was the starting point for my trajectory of job experiences and professional career which finally led me through different places in Germany, Spain, Mexico and Brazil , several companies and two marriages with in total five children (one of them actually is the son of my lovely wife from her own first marriage) to Vulkan do Brasil in Itatiba in the very beautiful interior of the brazilian state of Sao Paulo, where I am living and working and blogging right now. 

I have always maintained and fiercely defended my analytical, critical and somehow provocative attitude and spirit, but for sure, since I have started to work as an employee for industrial companies, I have always tried to do this in a loyal, compatible way with the companies, for which I have been working and always respecting  the general business rules and cultures, in order to avoid unwanted and non-productive conflicts and failure. But my personal conviction and experience after about 35 years of experience as engineer, manager and executive shows me clearly, that nor business environments nor company cultures in general require, that You as an employee hide or even disguise Yourself and play false games and roles. 

In the contrary - in some companies more and in others (still) less -  it is anyhow expected and necessary, that the employees express actively and openly their thoughts and opinions and participate and contribute with own initiative and self esteem to their job and the success of their company`s business in general. If there were really limitating cages with regards to this, I would assume immediately, that the vast majority of these had been self invented resp. self constructed by the individual employees and not so much erected by the companies, for which they are working. 

This is even more valid, the higher Your position in Your company is. I always tell my superiors, that they also pay me for the things which I again and again tell them, but which they - at least sometimes and initially - don`t like to hear from me. Modern business is all but military. The higher Your salary, the higher Your responsability to think and act, including to open Your mouth, no matter whether this leads You through heaven or hell from time to time. Society, community, business world, industry and companies need more than ever modern rebels, people who open their mouth,  promote progress and success and help actively to avoid going totally wrong ways  and causing damages. 

Today`s world is so crazy. Just look at international politics and certain important politicians. In many countries this has led to the schizophrenic situation, that during certain periods - but this is definitely not sustainable for longer periods - the economy, the companies and the business world ignore completely the politics and the politicians and their politics and go their own independent ways. We made experience with this in Brazil during some time period and I could see it happen in Peru as well in the recent past. This makes me conclude, that - again - on all levels of society, in politics, economy, business and companies new rebels are so much required to appear, because too many situations, solutions and even rules and laws need to be further developped, if not changed or substituted. Go new rebels, go !

A good example for such a constructive, modern, new rebel for me is definitely Philipp Schiemer. During his last week finished period as President of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil - Philipp has been called back to Germany by Mercedes-Benz for taking over his new responsability as CEO of Mercedes-AMG -  and also in his role as President of the German-Brazilian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK) in Sao Paulo during the last two years, where I have the enormous pleasure and honor to make part of the board of directors, Philipp in both functions always expressed publicly, openly and frankly, what he saw, thought and understood as defects and improvement needs in this as beautiful as suffering country, no matter whether the politicians and other "important people" liked this, or not. Philipp, in this sence, has acted totally different than the great majority of  the influential business and industry leaders in this country, which traditionally avoid to share openly their real thoughts and to take directly and with public visibility part in the political and economical discussions and decisions in this country. What a shame. Hope, that after Philipp`s return to Germany,  many other new critical voices and new rebels will appear. 

Here in Brazil we - as honest, sincere, hard working, law respecting, tax paying - citizens really can`t stand any longer, to hear and see the same stupid bullshit (sorry for the knowingly strong word) coming from the well established, over all and everything dominating egoistic, incompetent and corrupt political class, no matter, whether they label themselfes as "right" or "left" in the political spectrum. The actual Covid-19 desaster without any clear counter measures and policy having been established country wide, like almost all other countries worldwide did, just shows this brazilian political and organisational nightmare once more clearly. 

At our company Vulkan do Brasil we have implemented a full program of  effective protection measures for our employees since the beginning of the appearance and spread Covid-19 in Brazil in the middle of March. Almost all administrative employees are doing home office and in our factory we have spread our employees over two shifts, created seperated, autonomous  work groups, have imposed the obligation to wear protection mascs and several other helpful measures. Thus we do, what is in our hands, to help to combat the further spread of this terrible desease and to reduce the risk for all of us.  

No song is fitting better to this rebellious post than Billy Idol`s famous "Rebel Yell":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdphvuyaV_I

I hope, that You have been inspired by my today`s reflections and open sharing of thoughts and opinion. By the way - which have been Your own experiences so far with the above mentioned subjects? Any other new rebels around here amongst us? 

Looking forward to meeting again with You tomorrow morning.