(Digital) transformation leadership needs more than tech, processes, structures and KPIs - it needs attitude.

If you want to make transformations truly effective and sustainable, you need the ability to set systems in motion. Think systemically. Act in a complementary way. Create impact.

When we talk about digital transformation, we usually have a set of buzzwords in our luggage: Operating Models. BPM. Cloud. New Work. OKRs. Customer Centricity. Design Thinking. AI. And, and....And yes - a fancy Innovation Lab on the 15th floor.

Hand on heart:

• How often do such programmes really ‘stick’ in the organisation?

• How often do process initiatives have a real impact?

• How often do we talk about agility and still do classic waterfall?

• And how often do we just produce... new PowerPoints instead?

The blind spot of many digital strategies: the social operating system

Most transformation projects are technically and professionally well thought out - even if they could sometimes be approached in a more modern way, no question. But they overlook something central:

Organisations do not function like machines, but like living social systems.

This means that people do not act on the basis of instructions, but on the basis of interpretations, habits, relationships and - yes - unspoken fears or beliefs.

And this is exactly where many programmes fail:

• Because they try to manage transformation instead of putting it into context.

• Because they want to restructure the organisation architecturally without understanding the social foundations.

• Because they underestimate working relationships and misunderstand constructive conflicts.

• Because they build even more structure for complexity - instead of creating resonance spaces.

  
  

Systemic-complementary consulting: Not a toolset. A mindset.

The systemic-complementary consulting approach - inspired by Dr Roswita Königswieser - combines two worlds that are often artificially separated:

• Systemics: the art of making patterns, dynamics and blind spots in organisations visible.

• Complementary expertise: The ability to introduce precise impulses from a specialist and strategic perspective - but without disempowering the organisation.

  
  

The Result: No external control. No dogmatism. Instead, clever interventions that generate resonance - not resistance.

What this means in concrete terms - also (and especially) for digital projects:

1. Participation ≠ consensus

Systemic-complementary counselling does not mean involving everyone so that everyone is happy. It means making the right tensions productive - not smoothing them over.

2. Clarify roles, not just build charts

Who is actually leading whom through the transformation? Project roles are nice - but it's often informal power axes that determine the game. We bring them to the table.

3. work on patterns instead of action logic

The problem is not the lack of a tool. It's the reflex to respond to every uncertainty with a new process. We work where something cannot be said - but works.

4. Functional Expertise? Yes. But context-sensitive.

Systemic-complementary work means: We bring in expertise - but not as a directive. But as an offer of dialogue. That changes everything.

Who is it for?

Not for consulting nostalgics. Not for control fans with a phobia of complexity. But for:

• Managers who really want to take organisations with them.

• Leaders who understand transformation as a social movement.

• Experienced high potentials who have learnt to think analytically, who experienced limits - and now want to learn to work systemically.
  

Conclusion: (Digital) transformation needs relationships. Not just technology, not just processes and structures.

Systemic-complementary counselling is not a toolbox of methods for the next change. It is an invitation:

To look differently. To listen more deeply. To interact more courageously.

And that could be exactly the lever your digital transformation project needs - not more tools, but more effectiveness.

Curious? Then let's not talk about frameworks. But about what lies beneath and ahead.

👉 Let’s connect.