Deutsche Bahn
In the coming years, the employees of Deutsche Bahn will face a highly complex challenge: shaping the massive shift of traffic from air and road to rail in order to make a crucial contribution to achieving climate targets. That is why the strategic reorientation of the railway is called “Strong Rail,” with the digitalisation of rail operations being a decisive key.
For this multifaceted task to succeed, Deutsche Bahn above all needs one thing: people who are eager to actively shape the change. That is why there are various projects, initiatives, spaces, and units within the organisation that deal with digital innovation, new ways of working, and cultural transformation.
One of these places is the Digital Base in Berlin: a central hub in a company-wide network of initiatives. The team based there, Digital Transformation, has made it their mission to make the diversity of projects, efforts, and committed actors visible—and to contribute to networking and learning through events and workshops.
Of course, the doors of the Digital Base are open to all DB employees. They can attend workshops at any time or meet for co-working. Nevertheless, the Digital Transformation team wanted to create a medium that goes beyond the physical boundaries of the Digital Base and makes tangible and experiential how new forms of collaboration are already developing across the DB ecosystem.
We were able to support them in developing a colorful publication that resonates with leaders and employees—and, even more importantly, invites people to participate.
“We were overwhelmed by the response from our colleagues and still receive feedback from different areas of the organization: the handbook generates motivation to try out new approaches and provides a helpful overview of supporting internal DB initiatives.”
In a small team of about 2–5 people, we started an agile editorial process together with an initial kickoff workshop, where we collected ideas for topics. It quickly became clear that this core team wanted to involve additional colleagues and initiatives as co-creators. The editorial work was then divided into a co-creative sprint process with the core team, which was repeatedly supported by workshops and sync meetings. The Digital Transformation team conducted research, carried out interviews, and wrote texts just as much as TheDive did.
On 120 lovingly designed pages, DB employees gain a playful and tangible insight into initiatives, projects, and efforts dedicated to the strategic vision of the “strong rail network.”
120
lovingly researched and
designed pages that invite participation
3,710
pre-ordered copies,
even though only 1,000
were planned
27
articles, reports, and
behind-the-scenes insights into
initiatives and projects at DB
9
methods for collective
experimentation and reflection
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