I'll tell you a secret

Companies always go to huge lengths keeping their product innovations secret, until they are officially introduced to the public. The precautions taken by technology company Apple to keep the latest smartphone, tablet or watch under wraps until the launch proper are now legendary. Automotive groups hermetically seal themselves off to ensure that nobody claps eyes on their latest model before it is ready for market. If a photo journalist does manage to snatch a photo of the innovation, it is greeted with reverence among experts as a "streak of mist".

Manufacturers of products with long development cycles are particularly fearful of such communication leaks. Meanwhile, trade associations report that, each year, German industry suffers losses of between EUR 50 and 100 billion as a result of industrial espionage and data theft, including tapping major Internet junctions.

These are two highly sensitive matters for manufacturers of products that bear the "made in Germany" label. But allow me to ask a provocative question: is it possible that you are looking in entirely the wrong place for the competitors and actors who pose a threat to your company?

Don't get me wrong: industrial espionage is a destructive practice that must not be trivialized. And yet, when Volkswagen last week – and Daimler at the start of April – talked about trends, successes and challenges when presenting their balance sheets, there was also discussion of electromobility, automated driving and networked mobility. A couple of years ago, the automotive industry laughed off such talk and yet now, it seems these developments are the key to future success.

Which goes to show: it won't just be the sleek prototype that decides the race for market shares among car manufacturers. Daimler's competition long ago ceased to be confined to BMW or Audi; nowadays, it is also up against the likes of Apple and Google, Car2go and ICE or CRH, a high-speed train from China. Not to mention Tesla, which plans to deliver its first electric cars in 2018 and is already receiving firm advance orders.

Is a lone company capable of handling all these fields of the future and technological demands alone? Clearly, that is a rhetorical question: of course not. Which is why all companies must as a matter of urgency start engaging more intensively with other market participants – including, most importantly, their erstwhile competitors. There's a name for this cooperation among competitors: coopetition. This is essential for companies to become smarter, faster and more competitive in specific areas, cope with the market demands and continue competing with each other in other fields.

The threat from prototype hunters and industrial spies is great. Far greater, however, is the threat of self-imposed sequestration, driven by mistrust. Without openness and curiosity, a company has lost its very reason for existing – as has every single manager and every employee. If you stick rigidly within familiar tramlines and always seek your customers and business partners in the same, familiar places, you are severely limiting yourself. Think outside the box. At the next trade show or the upcoming industry bash, talk to your competitors and, over a cup of coffee or a beer, ask them what's working well for them and where the shoe is pinching. Find out how they are responding to the industry newcomer who hasn't got a clue about the core Business.

And I'd also urge you to take an interest in strong new trends in society which, on the face of it, are of no relevance to you at all. Refugees – nothing to do with you? The shift from desktop internet to the mobile web – doesn't affect you? Lifelong learning – of no interest to your target group? I'm sorry but, in the fast-moving age in which we live, such arrogance could prove fatal to managers and companies. It simply isn't enough to focus on your core business to the exclusion of everything else.

Let me give you a personal example: as a pro-boxer, I have limited points of contact with the outside world and the wider economy. Training, contests, marketing, sponsors – they belong to my home turf. However, because I know that my time as a top-ranking athlete is limited, I have expanded my horizons. And one of the things I have discovered is the lifelong learning trend. I have created a course at the University of St. Gallen, "Change and Innovation Management", on which I share with managers my experiences from top-level sport, among other things. I am firmly convinced that managers can benefit from the knowledge of a world champion boxer. To give you an example of coopetition in action: if I were afraid of competitors, as a sportsman I would have to seal myself off and either train with an ageing athlete, the punch bag or only with my coach. Would I improve by doing this? Probably not.

Which is why I take a risk and reveal my training methods to young colleagues. Yes, I am even sharing trade secrets with them, to ensure that I have equal sparring partners – at the risk that they will one day beat me at my own game. That is what coopetition means to me. Because, unlike car and machinery manufacturers, I don't own a fleet or data intelligence. My preparation and my training are what give me my competitive edge. I share both with potential opponents, in order to improve myself.

Perhaps you've never thought of it that way? To be honest, I too struggle to understand why vehicle brands make such a fuss about the silhouette of their new model when their competitive edge could lie somewhere else entirely. If a car manufacturer like VW were to emulate a certain Californian computer and smartphone manufacturer in its approach to displaying its products at the point of sale, with a bit of luck its customers too would be willing to camp outside the dealership overnight. Wouldn't that be an unexpected coup for the long-established brand?

And if the investment involved seems too daunting, surely other car makes would welcome greater interest in their branches? Competitors should talk to each other. It really is that simple...