How The Right Culture Leads To Highly Productive Teams

By Adi Hoess

"Culture” has gone from being a buzzword to a commonplace term in the past several years, and if a company isn’t careful, it can become almost meaningless as it’s tossed around in documents and HR discussions. This is something that should be avoided in most businesses, but in life sciences particularly, it’s crucial to maintain a focus on cultivating an atmosphere — a culture — that encourages diversity of thought.

In the nine years I’ve been CEO at Affimed, and for the years before when I held leadership positions at Jerini and Carl-Zeiss, I’ve maintained the position that the ideas people of different backgrounds and experiences bring to the table are the biggest value in the life sciences field. We are explorers looking to make progress, and we need to place a priority on diversity of thought, because we are seeking solutions.