In the strategy interview, badenova Co-CEO Hans-Martin Hellebrand reports on the only two-year journey of municipal energy provider with more than a century of roots to become the digital platform for the energy and heat transition in southern Germany. Christian Underwood and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Weigand get to the bottom of the secret behind the success of this strategic realignment: from the participative strategy process, to shared leadership in the highest corporate office, to agile target management with Objectives & Key Results (OKR).
From IT controlling to the innovation lab in Silicon Valley and the energy supplier
Hellebrand's remarkable career includes a degree in business administration from the University of Bielefeld and entry into controlling at RWE Systems in 2006. With continuous responsibility and leadership skills, he was eventually appointed Senior Vice President Group IT Controlling. His passion for innovation and technological progress led him to Innogy as SVP Global Innovation & Cooperation, where he was instrumental in founding and developing the InnovationHUB in Silicon Valley. Along the way, he successfully completed his Executive Kellogg-WHU MBA and the CIO program at WHU. After three years in the USA, he returned to Germany in 2018 to accompany the growth course of the energy discounter eprimo as Managing Director. His passion for digital transformation in the energy industry ultimately led him to badenova as Co-CEO in July 2021.
Target image: Shaping the energy and heat transition for a livable future
"For a future worth living, we are shaping the energy and heat transition. With the region, for the region." That's the company's WHY. But what does that mean in detail? Hans-Martin Hellebrand explains that badenova's mission statement is to shape the sustainable energy world of tomorrow. This is to take into account all aspects of the energy world, including the transformation of the entire energy system and the vital energy of water. A particular focus is on approaching this goal together with the region for the region. This is because the transformation of the energy system requires the cooperation of many stakeholders and is not just in the hands of the energy supplier. To ensure that this cooperation succeeds optimally, badenova - in addition to the classic mandate for the supply of sustainable energy, heat and water - organizes the energy solutions for private households in a digital end-to-end platform. In this way, all the necessary partners for the decentralized energy turnaround at the customer's are optimally aligned to form a holistic offer.
" We must all pull together to make energy transition possible."
Hellebrand emphasizes that badenova's target image is based on Simon Sinnek's "Golden Circle". This answers the questions: Who are we? Where do we want to go? The company deliberately chose the wording "target image" (and not "purpose" or similar) in order to make the core more comprehensible to the workforce: The target image serves as a point of orientation for all employees and gives them the energy and confidence to move forward with confidence every day.
He explains that their goal is to shape the energy future by moving from the current fossil fuel system to a better future, but not in a dogmatic way. They want to engage their customers in this journey and help them make the best transition to sustainable energy.
Innovation and digitization offerings in the badenova portfolio
Christian is interested in whether Hellebrand's time in Silicon Valley has translated into innovative, digital product ideas for badenova. Hellebrand begins by explaining that badenova has a strong innovation DNA in its blood and has been striving to change the world for years. For example, an innovation fund was established by badenova at the time of its founding, with a portion of the annual profits of the shareholders flowing into a fund to support innovative projects in the region.
Hellebrand then goes into specific innovative solutions that badenova is already implementing, which could well have been created in Silicon Valley. One example is the platform-driven ecosystem approach for the decentralized energy transition for private customers. The aim here is to understand the needs and infrastructure of customers in order to find the optimal energy solution for each customer. The platform brokers solar systems, batteries and other products from hardware manufacturers, while regional trades are involved to install and maintain the products. badenova also works with partners such as building societies and banks to secure financing.
Furthermore, Hellebrand emphasizes that badenova is clearly focusing on its core competencies here, namely the relationship with its customers and knowledge about energy. In the search for the optimal solution, however, he says it is important to work with partners and experts to find a holistic optimal solution. Hellebrand speaks of an "Uber or Airbnb approach" in the energy sector and emphasizes that badenova's claim to be a pioneer in energy innovation is not limited to this.
From Silicon Valley to badenova: German SMEs can keep up!
His passion for IT and innovation led Hellebrand to Innogy in 2015 as SVP Global Innovation & Cooperation, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. There, he played a key role in driving the founding and development of the InnovationHUB for three years. Despite the cultural differences between Silicon Valley and a down-to-earth traditional company like badenova, he felt at home right from the start and was warmly welcomed. He described Silicon Valley as an entrepreneurial environment where you tackle a lot.
"Compared to many experiences in large corporations, I find the attitude and mindset I find among mid-sized regional and community businesses to be much more similar to Silicon Valley than a large corporation."
Participatory design of the strategy process
So Hans-Martin Hellebrand joined badenova just two years ago and, together with his co-CEO colleague and the entire team, managed to completely reorganize the company strategically in this short time. A remarkable record: How did he approach this transformation to achieve such results?
First of all, they set themselves a target picture in order to have a point of reference for further work. In doing so, it was important for them to involve the entire company by collecting voices from all hierarchical levels and choosing a participatory approach. The goal was to find a picture that would be shared by all employees and serve as a driving force. This target image was then iteratively developed further and finally used as the north star for the strategy work.
Concrete courses of action were identified that lead toward the goal, such as rethinking the gas network or implementing a decentralized energy future for customers. Hellebrand emphasizes that it was important that each employee could identify with the process and have ownership of his or her own work. This was achieved through the participatory approach and the joint work on the target image.
How badenova uses shared governance and OKR
In the end, does only one:r really need to have primary responsibility for decision-making in a company in order to lead it to success? badenova proves the opposite. Hellebrand describes its governance structure as a two-person board, where there is no primus inter pares. Instead, he runs the company with his colleague Heinz-Werner Hölscher as a team, with no one having more say than the other. Although each of them has focus areas, they manage responsibility entrepreneurially as a whole.
badenova also relies on a methodology called OKR (Objectives & Key Results), in which the company defines concrete goals in the form of tangible, desired "outcomes" at the beginning of each 4-month cycle, which are to be worked towards within this period. It is important to work together with the team in dialog on the way to achieving the goals in a sprint and to carry out a retro and review analysis at the end of a cycle in order to continuously improve.
. The consequence of this model is dialog-based collaboration and greater involvement of employees in decision-making processes. It also promotes a culture of collaboration and teamwork throughout the company.
badenova introduced this methodology in a very "low-threshold" way by first defining the "top issues" for the next sprint with the teams. In this way, the value of the methodology became very clear and only in future sprints was the "school of thought" that had already been established continuously refined.
Advice of the day by Hans-Martin Hellebrand
Christian concludes by asking what skills are now really crucial to being successful in a constantly changing environment. In summary, Hellebrand's time in Silicon Valley taught him to always look outward to perceive changes and opportunities and to have the courage to implement new ideas and concepts. Even if they come with a certain risk of failure. In conclusion, he emphasizes that learning from mistakes and adapting strategy are crucial to achieving lasting success in a constantly changing environment.