Strategy Consulting
we enable desired futures
We are a strategy consultancy that brings your future potentials to life. We work with people on new mindsets and accompany you through meaningful transformation processes.
Trusted by
Merck
Med Uni Graz
Freudenberg
JKU
Novartis
Elisabethinen
ZKW
Stadt Linz
AIT
bene
Wüstenrot
Our offers
Four paths into your future
We develop living, future-ready organizations — from strategic repositioning to the design of inspiring spaces and effective workspaces.
01
Innovation
Wir entwickeln mit Ihnen Produkte und Dienstleistungen, die zukünftige Kund:innen begeistern. Mit der leap-Innovations-Technologie lassen wir Neues von der Zukunft her entstehen.
read more
02
Transformation
Wir verändern mit Ihnen Ihre Organisation aus dem Inneren heraus, um sie für eine digitale Zukunft fit zu machen. Mit Future Identity schaffen wir eine zukunftsorientierte Unternehmensidentität.
read more
03
Leadership
Wir entwickeln und kultivieren mit Ihnen die zukunftsorientierten Mindsets, Skills und Arbeitspraktiken Ihrer Führungskräfte für die Herausforderungen der VUCA-Welt.
read more
04
Spaces
Wir schaffen mit Ihnen Orte, an denen Ihre Organisation aufblüht und den Menschen die Möglichkeit gibt, sich zu entfalten. Räume, die Innovation und Zusammenarbeit fördern, bezeichnen wir als Enabling Spaces.
read moreFrequently asked questions about our offers
leap is a proven strategic innovation process that empowers organizations to “learn from the future” and systematically generate radical innovation. The process takes 3–6 months and includes several workshops as well as one-on-one innovation coaching. Participants are enabled to apply this approach autonomously within the organization.
Future Identity is an integrative transformation process that redefines the core and purpose of an organization for the digital world. It works internally (profile, organizational design, mindset, processes) and externally (positioning, public presence, new offerings, differentiation). The approach begins with a three-month profile-building process and often leads into a multi-year transformation process (implementation).
leap start (10 weeks) focuses on identifying future-relevant themes and future potentials. leap product (12 weeks) uncovers the digital potential of physical products and develops new business models. leap complete (4–6 months) is the comprehensive process with 7 workshops, prototyping, and lasting enablement of the team. All variants are described under Innovation.
Our offerings are aimed at medium to large organizations, as well as universities and public institutions in Europe, that face strategic challenges. We typically work with leadership teams of 6 to 30 people and support organizations from around 50 employees upward. Learn more about our approach under About us.
how we work
What you can expect
Every collaboration follows a clear, transparent process — adapted to your specific situation and goals.
Initial conversation
1
In a no-obligation conversation, we get to know your challenges, goals, and the context of your organization.
Sensing & Analysis
2
We immerse ourselves deeply in your reality — without preconception. We capture the status quo and identify latent future potentials.
Co-Creation
3
Together with your team, we develop strategies, unique selling points, and concrete prototypes.
Implementation
4
We accompany you through implementation, anchor new mindsets, and enable your team to carry the work forward autonomously.
Why thelivingcore
Learning from the future
At theLivingCore, we follow the principle of living systems. Organizations that find a healthy balance between stability and renewal master the challenges of a VUCA world.
Our approach of “learning from the future” allows us to accompany and transform organizations from their living core into their future. We turn the challenges of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity into something positive.
As knowledge and innovation architects, our focus is on the aliveness of organizations and of the people who work within them. Being alive means standing “authentically in the midst of life” and acting meaningfully.
20+
years of experience
7
principles
2
Locations
50+
Projects
Our Methodology
Seven principles for living innovation
Unsere Arbeit basiert auf sieben wissenschaftlich fundierten Prinzipien, die emergente Innovation ermöglichen.
01
Radical Openness
Unreserved openness toward the reality of an organization, without preconception.
02
Sensing the Core
An empathetic approach to what is given, developing deep understanding through meaningful perception.
03
Cultivating Latent Potentials
Identifying and cultivating an organization’s not-always-obvious possibilities for development.
04
Co-creating Desired Futures
Collaboratively developing desirable futures in cooperation with relevant stakeholders.
05
Emergence
From interacting elements, new patterns and qualities arise — the new emerges from the dynamics of the existing.
06
Enabling
Creating the conditions that foster emergent processes and dramatically increasing the likelihood of the new.
07
Learning from the Future
Identifying the crystallization points of an emerging future and making them fruitful for innovation.
Voices of our clients
What our partners and clients say
„theLivingCore helped us completely rethink our organization from within. The process was profound, respectful, and set lasting change in motion.”
Member of the Rectorate, Medical University
– Strategic Repositioning
„The leap innovation process empowered our team to truly think outside the box. The results were concrete and actionable, and created a new, successful business model.”
Head of Innovation, industrial company
— leap™ Innovation
„What convinced us was the scientifically grounded approach. The profile and the principles provide real orientation, not only during the process, but above all afterward, in implementation and transformation”
CFO, Konsumgüter KMU
– Future Identity Transformation
Clients
Results that speak for themselves
Selected projects show how we shape desirable futures together with our clients.
Leadership
gkk: How Working on Mindsets Drives Successful Transformation
Why do most transformations stall? For gkk, the answer was mindsets and reshaping them turned years of failed change into momentum across all four sites.
more
Transformation
Developing a New Identity for the Medical University Graz: Forging Uniqueness Amidst Academic Conformity
How does a small medical university stand out against global giants? Med Uni Graz found its answer in a bold new identity: Pioneering Minds.
more
ÖBB Innovation Factory
How do you turn a corporate headquarters into a home for open innovation? ÖBB’s Open Innovation Factory answers with one bold vision: Mobility as a Commons.
moreFounders of thelivingcore
Science meets entrepreneurship
theLivingCore combines entrepreneurial practice with scientific grounding — a combination that makes our approach unique.
Thomas Fundneider
Founder & CEO
Knowledge and innovation architect with over 20 years of experience in strategic innovation and organizational transformation. Works at the intersection of business, design, and science.
Markus F. Peschl
Founder & Chief Science Officer
Professor of Cognitive Science and Innovation Research at the University of Vienna. Develops the scientific foundations for emergent innovation and “learning from the future.”
perspectives
Latest articles
Frequently asked questions
The essentials at a glance
theLivingCore is a strategy consultancy based in Vienna (Austria) and Springe (Germany). We accompany organizations into their future through Innovation, Transformation, leadership development, and the design of work and innovation spaces. Our approach is based on the principle of “learning from the future.”
We work with medium to large organizations, universities, and companies in the DACH region that are facing strategic change, want to professionalize their innovation processes, or want to develop their leaders in a future-oriented way. Learn more on our About us page.
A collaboration begins with a no-obligation initial conversation, followed by an analysis of the status quo. Building on that, a tailored process is developed — according to your needs.
theLivingCore works according to seven principles: 1. Radical Openness, 2. Sensing the Core, 3. Cultivating Latent Potentials, 4. Co-creating Desired Futures, 5. Emergence, 6. Enabling, 7. Learning from the Future. These scientifically grounded principles form the foundation of every collaboration.
theLivingCore has two locations: Lange Gasse 29, 1080 Vienna, Austria, and Harmsmühlenstraße 77, 31832 Springe, Germany. We work with clients throughout Europe.
Every project is tailored individually to your needs. Costs depend on the scope, duration, and complexity of the undertaking. Feel free to contact us for a no-obligation initial conversation, in which we define the scope together.
