Gunter Dueck: I did. I asked myself: Who wants to see me live when there are already hundreds of hours of my speeches online? I was torn. On the one hand, I wanted to trumpet all my ideas out into the world, well, to make the world a better place through missionary work. On the other hand, people basically already know everything... Pondering this question was buried under too many invitations. What if I think again today? It's probably a good strategy and good for everyone if you make everything public. That's what I'm doing now. I also hand out PowerPoints on request. Anyone can have everything.
Question: So you share your knowledge completely selflessly?
Gunter Dueck: Well, it's not selfless in the end. I give everything away and then I get orders to add the icing on the cake. You can see that with many apps. Anyone can use them, but you have to pay for a professional instagram data solution. The videos and texts are free, only live ones cost money. A certain amount of work can be paid for, I think! But I try to make the pure content freely available online. I don't charge for speeches at re:publica, churches, parties, TEDx or universities, but then I would like to talk about topics that are close to my heart or with which I want to achieve something idealistic. Selfless is perhaps the wrong word. I think everyone should give part of their work to society as a "good citizen" as far as possible. Just like that. It feels good, by the way.
Question: Why are so many of your colleagues – speakers, consultants, scientists – concerned about protecting and guarding their knowledge?
Gunter Dueck: I know this discussion, especially among consultants. They are afraid of no longer being anything if they release their slides, their methods or questionnaires for status surveys. Anyone who is really excellent has to provide a professional version on top of this pure "knowledge", right? A lot of it seems to me like in some restaurants where they serve canned soup. The knowledge of such recipes is then preferred not to be shared, of course. I would like to make the best effort myself, as best I can, to become a Michelin-starred chef in my field. There is a wonderful motto in the title of a book I bought at the airport a long time ago. I have never read it, because the title says it all: Do what you love, the money will follow. That is what I do and it works. I don't consider whether I could earn more through selfish strategies. I want to do what I love. That above all.