Frequently Asked Questions

Three things set transformind apart from other consultancies. First, the person: Bernhard Nitz works personally in every mandate, from diagnosis to operational anchoring. There is no junior team executing the work.Second, the methodological depth. transformind combines the consulting practice of Königswieser & Network with its own diagnostic and steering frameworks such as Ambiflow. We do not work with off-the-shelf process templates, but with diagnostic discipline that surfaces the bottlenecks of a specific organisation.Third, the integration of strategy, leadership, and implementation in one set of hands. Many consultancies can do one or the other. We accompany both, because strategy and leadership practice are inseparable if change is actually to take effect.

A collaboration with transformind begins with a non-binding initial conversation in which we examine the starting position together and decide whether a collaboration makes sense. There is no pitch and no standard presentation.When both sides agree, a diagnostic phase follows. For consulting mandates this is a Pulse-Check over 1 to 5 days that surfaces the bottlenecks in a structured way. For coaching mandates it is a clarification phase with qualitative interviews.On this basis we develop a working framework together, with clear goals, milestones, and ground rules. You set the pace. At every stage, you retain the option to take the next steps on your own.Bernhard Nitz is your sole point of contact throughout the entire mandate.

transformind works predominantly with privately owned SMEs in the German-speaking region (DACH) that seek paths outside the large consulting firms and engage with demanding change processes, strategically, culturally, and structurally.The typical starting position: an executive team faces a transformation whose complexity exceeds internal experience. What is needed is not a methodology vendor, but someone who connects the organisational diagnosis with leadership reality.For non-profit organisations, educational institutions, and public administration, we work on request and based on fit with the mandate. We take on corporate mandates when the work can happen directly with the executive board or a business unit.

At transformind, you work directly with the founder, Bernhard Nitz. This is not a service feature but the business model: boutique consulting means that the consultant is the context.Whoever sits in the first meeting also accompanies you throughout the entire process. There is no bait-and-switch where a senior partner sells and a junior delivers. Diagnosis, strategy, difficult conversations with the executive board, operational anchoring, everything personal.When a mandate requires specialised expertise, for example data modelling, marketing technology, or restructuring, transformind works within a robust network of specialists. These partners are disclosed transparently, never obscured.

Absolute confidentiality is non-negotiable. Most of the topics that come up in consulting and coaching, such as strategic uncertainties, personal leadership questions, or conflicts at executive-board level, require a protected setting.Concretely: we do not publish client names without explicit consent. We do not discuss mandate contents with third parties. Within our network too, strict confidentiality applies to every mandate.This discretion works both ways: we only work with clients who are willing to communicate openly and honestly with us. Half-truths render any consulting work ineffective.

Consulting and coaching are usually billed on a day-rate basis, with the precise frame depending on the scope, complexity, and format of the mandate.For consulting mandates we typically agree a total budget, based on an estimated number of consulting days. For coaching mandates, lump sums for a defined number of sessions are common, including preparation and follow-up. For strategic sparring, we bill per session, without long-term commitment.We are transparent in our pricing and openly discuss the financial frame in the first conversation, before a collaboration begins. Our fees are in line with the market range for senior consulting in the German-speaking region. Travel costs and expenses are listed separately.

Yes, the first conversation is non-binding and free of charge. Its purpose is to understand your concern, gain a first impression, and jointly assess whether and how a collaboration might make sense.In the conversation we typically clarify four points. What is the concrete topic and what is the history behind it? Who are the key actors and what expectations are on the table? Which form of accompaniment fits the situation: consulting, coaching, sparring, or a combination? And is the chemistry between the people involved viable?We give a first honest assessment, even if that means advising against consulting or recommending a different approach. A good first conversation clarifies more than it sells. The conversation typically lasts 30 to 45 minutes, in person, by phone, or by video call.

Yes. Bernhard Nitz has long-standing experience in international organisations and works professionally in both German and English. transformind accompanies mandates in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and internationally, including cross-cultural contexts where teams collaborate across locations and language regions.The website, all consulting materials, and the Strategy Flight-Check tool are available bilingually. In mandates, we adapt the working language to the composition of the leadership group, including mixed settings where individual sessions are held in English and others in German.

Classical consulting analyses a problem and delivers a solution. The consultant acts as an external expert with best-practice knowledge from comparable cases, and the client implements. This logic works well where problem and solution space are clearly defined.Systemic consulting proceeds fundamentally differently. It views the organisation as a living system with its own patterns, interactions, power dynamics, and unspoken loyalties. Instead of prescribing ready-made solutions, it makes these interrelations visible and strengthens the organisation's ability to act independently. Resistance is not treated as an obstacle, but read as information.At transformind we deliberately combine both logics. Methodologically we work in the Vienna-developed tradition of systemic-complementary consulting by Königswieser & Network: organisational depth paired with clear subject-matter and implementation expertise. Pure process facilitation leaves subject-matter gaps open; pure expert consulting ignores the dynamics on which projects actually founder.

In a boutique consultancy, you work directly with the experienced advisor, not with a junior team that is still learning the methodology. At transformind this means in practice: Bernhard Nitz is personally active in every mandate, from initial diagnosis to operational anchoring.The collaboration is therefore more personal, more discreet, and faster. Decisions happen directly, without internal alignment loops of a large consulting firm. Large firms have their place in data-intensive projects with global infrastructure. For transformation support, strategy sparring, and Executive Coaching at executive-board level, a boutique with a clear senior profile is usually the more effective choice.

Yes, and in many mandates the combination is the most effective approach. Consulting and Executive Coaching work particularly well together when organisational change and personal effectiveness must be addressed at the same time.A typical setup: an executive team commissions transformind with the accompaniment of a transformation and uses Executive Coaching for the CEO in parallel, to clarify their own leadership role in this context. Or a strategy process is complemented by strategic sparring for individual leaders ahead of difficult decisions.This combination is possible because Bernhard Nitz is personally active in all formats. There are no interface losses between different consultants.

Systemic-complementary consulting is a consulting approach developed in Vienna by Königswieser & Network that deliberately combines two methodological traditions. The systemic perspective understands organisations as complex living systems with their own patterns, dynamics, and unspoken rules. It makes these interrelations visible instead of prescribing ready-made solutions.The complementary dimension brings concrete subject-matter and industry knowledge as well as experience from real change processes. Consulting is not limited to process facilitation, but contributes its own expertise on strategy, leadership, and operational implementation.The combination of both logics is the actual mechanism of impact. Pure process facilitation leaves subject-matter gaps open. Pure expert consulting ignores the organisational dynamics on which most projects actually founder. At transformind we work methodologically in this tradition and combine it with our own diagnostic and steering framework, Ambiflow.

Ambiflow is a proprietary diagnostic and steering framework for organisational transformation, developed at transformind. At its centre sit six dimensions that together make visible the conditions under which change actually takes root in an organisation: bottleneck clarity, value-creation flow, ambidexterity balance, information flow and decision-making, social viability, and leadership-system maturity.Methodologically, Ambiflow combines three established traditions. Bottleneck clarity draws on Goldratt's Theory of Constraints. Value-creation flow builds on the Lean tradition. Ambidexterity balance follows the research of March (1991) and O'Reilly and Tushman on the ability of organisations to optimise and renew at the same time.Ambiflow is not a method tool, but a diagnostic discipline at the start of a mandate and a steering model during implementation. At transformind, Ambiflow is used in every mandate, beginning with the Pulse-Check over 1 to 5 days. The sequence of diagnosis is methodologically fixed: social viability first, then bottleneck clarity, with leadership-system maturity anchoring the steering.

The Pulse-Check is a structured entry diagnosis at transformind. In 1 to 5 days, it delivers a precise picture of an organisation's starting position before investment goes into a transformation, strategy development, or larger change.Methodologically, the Pulse-Check proceeds along the six Ambiflow dimensions and examines which conditions for change already carry and which must be developed first. The process typically comprises three steps: a sponsor conversation to clarify the initial question and the hypotheses to be tested; qualitative interviews with selected key people, complemented by the analysis of available documents; and an evaluation with joint discussion of the findings and derivation of the next steps.The Pulse-Check is particularly suitable before strategic decisions, before the start of a transformation, after crises or reorganisations, and for supervisory boards that need a neutral outside view of the maturity of their organisation. Deeper accompaniment can follow but does not have to. The Pulse-Check is also useful as a standalone service.

Bernhard Nitz is the founder and owner of transformind, a boutique consultancy based in Kilchberg near Zurich. He accompanies executive boards, owners, and supervisory boards in the German-speaking region in strategy development, organisational transformation, and Executive Coaching.Over twenty years of experience shape his work. Stations have led him through leadership and consulting roles in international organisations and in the Swiss and German mid-market. The focus is on mandates where strategy, leadership, and operational reality must be addressed simultaneously, where method packages reach the limits of organisational reality.Methodologically, Bernhard Nitz works in the consulting tradition of Königswieser & Network in Vienna, combined with the diagnostic and steering framework Ambiflow developed at transformind. He is personally active in every mandate, from diagnosis through strategic decisions to operational anchoring. There is no junior team executing the work.