Interview with Inga Steffen

Senior Consultant and 5DoBT expert at MARKTGUT GmbH

Miss Steffen, you are now 3 years with MARKTGUT, where did you find your own place in the company?

Yes, that's true, it's been 3 years now, but it still seems to me much longer. A lot has happened, I've already seen a great deal and there's always something new to do that makes my work exciting. In addition to the project work, I was promoted to Senior Consultant last year and took on responsibility for a very special topic, our self-developed 5DoBT method.

That sounds like a whole new challenge for you. What can I expect from the 5DoBT method?

The 5DoBT method is a potential value analysis method with which we evaluate ideas or projects in terms of their economic benefit with monetary amounts. This means that we want to use the method to try to focus on the positive in order to better recognize potentials and opportunities and at the same time make them measurable on the basis of concrete values. For this we always consider 5 dimensions in which we identify potentials - sales increase, efficiency increase, direct cost reduction, risk minimization and innovation degree increase. DoBT therefore stands for "Dimensions of Business Thinking". Especially for our customers, the 5DoBT method offers a new perspective that they are not used to, particularly in times when only cost savings are called for. For them, however, the method represents a new chain of argumentation with which they can justify decisions in a valuable way.

This means that you apply the method directly in your customer projects and also that you train the customer to use it later?

Yes, the 5DoBT method is used by the customer in a wide variety of ways. We often use the 5DoBT method in workshop format, i.e. we deal with a fixed topic and come to concrete results. This can be a project whose potential is to be determined or ideas for projects are derived and defined on the basis of the dimensions. By standardizing the method, you always have a good comparison, which also allows you to prioritize projects. In order to document the results correctly, we use an Excel framework, which is also standardized and contains all information, from the project description to the identified potentials to the potential calculation. To enable our customers to apply the 5DoBT method in a sustainable, long-term and independent way, we also offer training with different key aspects.

What would you say is special about the DoBT method and for whom is it suitable?

I think the special thing about this method is on the one hand the perspective on the positive and the comprehensive way of thinking, which is represented by the five dimensions. On the other hand, the 5DoBT method is easy to apply due to the standardization without great complexity, but at the same time individually adaptable and expandable. The 5DoBT method is suitable for anyone who can identify with a value-based perspective and wants to implement it, regardless of company size or industry.

You can find out more about DoBT here.