About Ernst Schipper
Organizations rarely fail because they lack ambition or strategy. More often, they struggle to translate that strategy into consistent decisions, behaviors and results.
That question has shaped my work for more than 25 years.
I founded Dandelion Strategies to help organizations bridge the gap between strategic intent and everyday practice. Over the years, I’ve advised multinational organizations and fast-growing companies across Europe, North America and Asia on employer branding, organizational culture, leadership and strategy execution. Along the way, one insight kept returning:
Organizations don’t change because they communicate a new strategy. They change when the organizational conditions that shape everyday behavior also change.
That perspective now underpins everything we do.
From employer branding to strategy execution
My career began in employer branding strategy and employee value proposition (EVP). Working with organizations across different industries, I realized that attracting the right people was only part of the challenge.
The organizations that consistently delivered on their ambitions were those where leadership, culture, decision-making and ways of working reinforced the strategy. Those that struggled often had capable people, a clear strategy and strong intentions, but the organization continued to reward yesterday’s behaviors.
That realization expanded my work beyond employer branding into organizational culture, leadership and strategy execution.
Today, I help organizations understand not only what they want to achieve, but also how the organization enable, or prevents, that ambition from becoming reality.
The ideas behind Dandelion Strategies
My thinking is captured in The Symphony of Strategy, a book that explores ten practical lessons for developing and implementing strategy. Those lessons continue to evolve through my work with clients and are reflected in the articles, essays and frameworks published by Dandelion Strategies.
Rather than viewing strategy, culture, employer branding and leadership as separate disciplines, I see them as interconnected parts of the same organizational system. That perspective influences every engagement, whether we’re developing an employer brand, redesigning organizational culture or helping leadership teams translate strategy into action.
How I work
Every organization is different, so I don’t believe in applying the same methodology everywhere.
Instead, I begin by understanding the business challenge. Sometimes the answer lies in employer branding or defining an Employer Value Proposition. Sometimes it requires changes to organizational culture or decision-making. Often, these disciplines reinforce one another.
The objective is always the same: helping organizations create the conditions in which strategy becomes everyday behavior.
Selected experience
Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked with organizations ranging from international scale-ups to global enterprises, including companies such as Booking.com, BCG, Siemens Energy, Fugro, Tenneco and GetYourGuide. My work has included employer branding, employee value proposition (EVP), organizational culture, and change across Europe, North America and Asia.
Continue exploring
If you’d like to explore these ideas further:
Read my book The Symphony of Strategy
Explore the latest Insights
Learn more about our consultancy services
Interested in exploring how culture can strengthen your strategy and execution? I’d be happy to connect.