The power of the people

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: The fall of the Berlin Wall began with the Peaceful Revolution in September 1989. As the size of the demonstrations grew, it proved that the majority of the population was against the regime. The main chant of the non-violent protestors was, “We are the people.” Although the state wanted to suppress this counter revolution, the power of the people, united against the government, ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Without the power of the people, the Berlin Wall might still be standing today.

The fundamental trend—people have the power—continues to prevail in today’s business environment. People have the power to shape organisations, lead transformation and create the demand for products and services. Therefore, in order to remain competitive, it is critical that companies harness this power. One way they can do this is by keeping abreast of global trends. In 2007, IMD’s Tom Malnight and Tracey Keys began tracking major global trends. Since then, IMD has been dedicated to understanding current trends and the impact they have on business, presenting them in many IMD programmes, including Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP).

One trend is the war for talent. Consider the synergies that exist between individuals being trapped behind the Berlin Wall in 1989 and businesses war for talent today. During its existence, from 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall became a physical symbol of both the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. Before it was built, the East German economy was being undermined by the flight of mostly young, educated talent—the intelligentsia—to West Germany. In order to stabilise the economy, communist leaders realised that they had to stop the defections to the capitalist West. They felt they had no choice but to build the wall. According to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, “The East German economy would have collapsed if we hadn’t done something soon against the mass flight…So the wall was the only remaining option.” (John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War, 2005, pp 115).

The Berlin Wall successfully stabilised East Germany and stopped the talent drain to West Germany. But, by the 1980s, détente was blossoming in Europe. The Stasi, East Germany’s secret police, held tight control. And many people in both East and West Germany feared that the anachronistic, hard-line East German hierarchy would be in place for a long time.