The “Summit at Heiligendamm” that recently ended was probably the last of its kind when it comes to composition, program and results. The effort was worthwhile. Organizers and attendees understood, without loss of face, to assign the true problems of our time to the adequate institutions which have been created a long time ago for the handling and solution of these problems, such as UN and WTO. Bilateral problems and topics have been deferred to the countries it concerns.

After all, the “Summit at Heiligendamm” let us all know that we all need to slowly but surely get used to doing away with the old terms First, Second and Third World and that we need to start viewing the world once again as it was intended by Creation as one world with a valid global order.

I also think it is time to discard with identified foolishness. Part of this for me is doing away with the indelicate affectations and fuss about foreign aid. What gives us the right to give development aid to countries that have been exploited by Europeans for centuries in the past, instead of sharing with them? Why do we continuously speak of size being the only device for mastering global competition instead of accepting any kind of competition as a contest between good and better? Why do we constantly criticize politicians, accuse them of inaptitude and of being unsound, of a hunger for power and money grubbing. However, we stay abstinent when we are called upon to serve society? In our greed for energy we can transport gas and oil over thousands of kilometers, no cargo rate is too high, but we do not have the ability to bring our overflowing grocery inventory to where hunger and thirst plague the people.

Just as we have learned that wars cannot only be won at gunpoint, we also know today that knowledge is the most enduring resource for the creation of prosperity. We also understand, and this I am convinced of, that it is not others and certainly not unilateral institutions, who have to make a contribution. Every single one of us has to make a contribution in order for a global system to function.

What does this have in common with the development and implementation of corporate strategies? A lot! By recognizing that the original face of the world is being restored through globalization, free from arbitrarily drawn up boarders, free from fences that keep people from progressing and that allow for them to be confined. By making the world more transparent and brighter, we realize what a wonderful opportunity we have been offered, to be successful with our knowledge. An open world strengthens us in our work, makes those look small who are afraid of competition, who are continuously speaking of the fight for market share, who try and play tricks, because they do not want to believe that a unique performance is enough to be successful and that most businesses are able to render such a performance.

We have to attach the development of new corporate strategies to our self-confidence and our ability, to create greatness from our uniqueness. How does that work? By throwing the obsolete overboard and let it perish. G8 did that in Heiligendamm for themselves and maybe gained a victory after all.