Scaling up without losing your identity.
When your company grows or merges, worlds collide: the pragmatic pioneering spirit meets the demand for professional structures. We help you turn this friction into momentum, rather than letting it lead to burnout.
Why success suddenly feels like loss.
The order books are full, new talent is coming on board, perhaps you have just acquired a competitor. On the surface, it’s a cause for celebration.
Yet internally, there is unrest. The "old guard" complains about bureaucracy and misses the agility of the founding years. Newcomers demand clearer structures and find informal arrangements unprofessional. Silos form, communication becomes sluggish, and speed drops.
Growth requires two logics to exist simultaneously: the informal logic (trust, quick calls, improvisation) that made you fast; and the formal logic (rules, processes, standards) that makes you stable.
The paradox: You need new structures to manage the scale. But you need the old spirit to remain innovative. The art is not the transition from A to B. The art is the coexistence of both worlds.
Together, we discover:
- Which cultural patterns drive your growth and which act as a brake.
- Where the logic of the pioneers and the logic of processes collide in daily operations.
- How to create structures that provide relief without stifling the original spirit.
- Which perspectives from "old" and "new" have been overlooked until now.
- How to turn the friction between silos into a productive partnership.
Bridging the gap between pioneering spirit and process security.
Strategy consultants provide you with organisational charts and process manuals. We ensure that these structures are actually brought to life.
Translating between cultures: We make different logics understandable to one another. Old vs. New, Company A vs. Company B. Instead of "right vs. wrong", we establish an understanding of "different and complementary".
Designing the collaboration: We help you distinguish where you need more process security and where you must consciously preserve "protected spaces" for informal interaction, ensuring innovation and speed are not lost.
We ensure that integration does not mean forced uniformity.
"Real growth is painful because it forces us to let go of what we cherish. The art lies in deciding what to take with us and what we must leave behind."
Dr. Katja Elbert
Experience in times of change.
We have accompanied companies that doubled in size in a short period and family businesses that had to integrate professional structures for the first time. We know the growing pains first-hand. We help you maintain clarity when everything is in motion.
Let’s talk about keeping your growth healthy.
Dr. Katja Elbert
Gründerin und Beraterin
Frequently Asked Questions - and our honest answers
Processes are the backbone of scaling, but not its heart. If you simply impose rigid rules on the pioneering spirit of the early years, you risk losing exactly the flexibility that made you successful. We help you introduce structures that provide relief rather than restriction. This way, agility is preserved as the organisation matures.
Attempting to turn two cultures into one overnight often ends in a weak compromise or the dominance of the stronger party. Both drain energy. Instead, we work on "clever coexistence": where is uniformity mandatory for the business? And where can (and should) difference remain? Real integration happens when differences are experienced not as errors, but as assets.
This is a classic phenomenon of growth. The "old hands" rely on intuition and networks; new managers rely on KPIs and standards. Both perspectives are valuable. We translate between these logics so that mutual misunderstanding evolves into productive cooperation.
