Life Changer

Okay, I admit it: I'm not without bias when it comes to Christoph Keese. I already really liked his other books, and his hy podcast is a regular part of my Spotify playlist. So I was all the more excited about his new book: "Life Changer". Christoph's earlier books are part of what inspired me to live and work in Silicon Valley myself one day. That's exactly what I'm doing right now, in search of inspiration. I wanted to bring an inspiring book along for my stay and, funnily enough, this time it put the focus on Germany. And that actually fits pretty well, because with much of what I'm currently seeing and experiencing here in the Bay Area, I think to myself: "we really don't need to hide in Germany and Switzerland!". A feeling that "Life Changer" confirms and that makes me hopeful.

If you follow the debates in the media, there seems to be some serious Germany-bashing when it comes to digitalization, deep tech and research. That amid all the grumbling we are only too happy to overlook how future technologies are being developed right in our midst is almost symptomatic of us Germans: we're good at complaining.
Of course, not everything runs perfectly and much of the criticism is justified. Still, constant pessimism makes you lose sight of what would be possible and, much more importantly, of what already exists today (often not directly visible).

That's why I was all the more pleased that Christoph Keese, with his new book Life Changer, turned his gaze inward (to Germany) – with the mission of pointing out the positive. In this review, you'll find out why (in my opinion) he succeeded brilliantly.

In his new book, Christoph Keese describes nothing less than the big picture, namely how the sectors energy, communication, mobility, health, food, education, society and state are connected. Split into three chapters, we learn how, through the use of technology, everything builds on everything else and everything somehow depends on everything.
Christoph never tires of pointing out how much stronger these dependencies will become in the future and that it would be a mistake to lose sight of the big picture. Only then will we manage, with the help of technology, to secure a future worth living. Technologies that ambitious and visionary people in Germany (so-called life changers) are already working on today.

As usual for Christoph Keese, the book contains numerous practical examples and various facts that back up each statement. But it's all explained very simply and vividly (also thanks to easy-to-understand diagrams). Despite the many numbers in places, you never feel like you're reading a dry non-fiction or specialist book. In the interviews he mentions, you can really tell how euphoric he himself must have been.

In the book, Christoph tries to spread a positive and hopeful basic tone and underlying optimism – and he succeeds. Still, especially toward the end, he also goes into the deficits of today's technology world in Germany in depth – keyword: funding. All of it with the necessary urgency, but also objectivity.

At a good 300 pages, "Life Changer" is relatively long. Next time, the individual points could be brought to the point a bit more, so that it ends up at 200 pages instead of 300. But that's also the only "big point of criticism" I can find.

Do you sometimes feel that today's debates in politics and society are far too small-minded? Far too narrow and not comprehensive enough?
Do you sometimes think it's enough to make you tear your hair out that the media trip over themselves with reports just because an influencer has launched a completely pointless energy drink, while we hardly listen to the people (THE life changers) who are working on technologies to truly move us forward as humanity?
Do you also feel that it could make you cry, seeing the homemade problems we have to deal with instead of all working together on the world's big challenges?

If you can answer these questions with "yes", then the book "Life Changer" is for you! It helps you widen your view a little again. With all the problems in the world, it's important to keep thinking beyond your own comfort zone and to act accordingly. And if you're also interested in technology, you can't go wrong with "Life Changer" – quite the opposite.

In his book, Christoph Keese addresses a central topic that I keep thinking about too: people will not change their behavior! At least not until natural disasters affect their own comfort zone. All appeals in this direction tend to be dismissed as moralizing.
It's like the energy transition: yes, I'm in favor of renewable energy, but not in my backyard. We humans much prefer to develop tools (technologies) that keep guaranteeing our prosperity without us having to change our own behavior or even our comfort zone. "Life Changer" cleverly raises these at times almost philosophical questions again and again – at least it kept making me think.

Of course, the book doesn't get by without a few jabs at Christoph Keese's "favorite industry": the automotive industry. That made me smile – but I basically liked it. It also spoke straight from my heart that, for the really big leaps forward, it's absolutely necessary to go further into deep tech, discuss it and ultimately also fund it with much more venture capital from Germany. Let's please forget the umpteenth online shop, the next fastest delivery service or the most colorful drink – all things that get us absolutely nowhere with the big challenges in the chapters mentioned.

"Life Changer" aims to inspire and to spread hope when it comes to technology made in Germany. That's one of the things I liked best. This time I took the picture for it at a place where many technological innovations are born. Hopefully in the future I can take one in front of the Brandenburg Gate or Cologne Cathedral, for example.

The book makes you hopeful. Something we can really use in these turbulent times. I noticed that, compared to his older books, Christoph Keese has also stepped it up another notch when it comes to storytelling: we learn about personal situations and observations that help put the overall situation into context and take us along as readers.

At first I wasn't sure whether, after successes like Silicon Germany or Disrupt Yourself, Christoph Keese would be able to deliver another book this good in this category. But what can I say: he delivered very convincingly!