Ernst Weichselbaum and Niels Pflaeging got in touch in 2015, when Ernst called Niels up the day after an interview the latter had given on Austrian radio. The two immediately recognized the relationship between their approaches to self-organization, decentralization, organizational development and practical systems theory. Ernst had been heavily influenced by radical constructivism pioneers Heinz von Foerster and Ernst von Glasersfeld, and had started applying constructivist approaches to organizing while he was general manager at Bene, an Austrian producer of high-quality office furniture. Ernst and Niels stayed in touch ever since. Others from our community, like Silke Hermann, Elisabeth Sechser, Andreas Schlegel later forged deeper relationships with Ernst, too.
In 2019, after several encounters, Niels approached Ernst with an idea for a book published in co-authorship about the "Weichselbaum System", which Ernst had perfected and applied with dozens of companies since the 1980s. The two quickly agreed on the project and sat together for a series of conversations, over the following months. Niels complied the material, edited and designed the book, and it got published in 2020 by Vahlen under the title "There is a better company in every company" (German title: "In jedem Unternehmen steckt ein besseres"). In the book's preface, Niels called Ernst “the Austrian Deming” - an expression Ernst found odd at first, but then accepted as a compliment. In the same essay, Niels characterized Ernst in this way: “Ernst Weichselbaum is a time traveler. He has come to us from the future to show us what can be.”
Ernst Weichselbaum had an exceptional personality: Curious and headstrong, warm and yet independent in thought, lively and also firmly rooted in family and in his hometown Waidhofen an der Ybbs. He never accepted things as they were, and was acutely aware of the political, or social dimension of organizational development. Ernst was a true consultant: He would always insist that his foremost role as an advisor was to teach his clients how to think in different and more effective ways - and that his role was not to please his clients. Ernst Weichselbaum was not a man of mediocrity, or incrementalism. In his consulting work, Ernst completely refrained from any analysis of the current situation, because he understood that “from the perspective of the past, the new is always wrong”. Instead of asking: “Could it be better?”, Ernst Weichselbaum preferred to ask: “Approaching things differently, could it be MUCH better?”
The Weichselbaum System will forever stand out in its outstanding philosophical elegance, its beautiful prose, and also in its stunning practical applicability.
***
Read the “about the author” section from Ernst Weichselbaum's book (in German) - free PDF file
***
Ernst's book in German can be purchased through all bookstores and retailers.
Get the book from Amazon.de – from Red42 (with free poster)
The Weichselbaum-System Concept Overview poster – exclusively from Red42
The Weichselbaum Box with book, 2 different posters and a T-shirt – exclusively from Red42
***
Photos of Ernst Weichselbaum by Niels Pflaeging.
Header photo of Ernst and Niels: Elisabeth Weichselbaum