The will to win

Ultimately, the story boils down to a clash between two loops in the “Figure-Eight Model”:

• The structured operations loop, demanding strict standards and documentation.
• The flexible innovation loop, thriving on freedom and creativity — like two universes with different horizons.

The author refers to SGL Secrets, which warn:

That rule was clearly forgotten in the rush to build the best product and earn the biggest profits. But success always carries the greatest risk.

Easee’s charger was a phenomenal product — launched at the perfect time, in the perfect market. Europe was embracing green energy, and Easee delivered exactly what the shift needed. Production and revenue soared to record height.

Then came the crash. In March 2023, everything stopped. A single bureaucratic requirement brought it all down. Swedish authorities demanded documentation and quality control for the entire development process. Easee’s leadership pointed to the brilliance of the product — but they could not explain how it had been built. From the outside, it looked like professionals from different planets, forced into cooperation. That was the breaking point.

This was not just a business failure. It was a learning moment for the entire innovation community. Innovation is essential. But so is Total Quality Management (TQM) — especially in the operational loop. Easee, along with its leadership and investors, missed that balance. And that, ultimately, was the disaster.

Reading this book taught me a lot. It inspired me to share the story — not just to reflect on failure, but to highlight the critical importance of Double-Loop-Learning, even for the most creative, forward-thinking environments.

The difference between the lower “operations loop” and the higher “process loop”, as shown in the figure-eight model, can be compared to the difference between the “stomach language” and the “head language”. A heavy and structured “whale organisation” has great strength but poor ability to change direction in tricky waters. In contrast, a light and flexible “flock of birds organisation” can quickly adapt and handle unexpected obstacles.

• In the first loop, the language of leadership and employee dialogue is rational, analytical, and logical, aimed at satisfying a production chain that must meet certain goals.
• In the second loop, communication and responsibility for one’s own tasks are added to the impersonal professional work. This means both human relationships and personal skills become part of the expanded value-creation process. These changes affect how organisations are structured, and require a different approach — for example, in employee conversations.

Just like the leadership style shifts from treating everyone the same, to adjusting based on each individual, more and more reward factors need to be added for each stage of the figure-eight model we want to achieve. Instead of equal pay for equal work, the trend moves toward fair pay based on different contributions, measured by the value of the individual’s skills.

As a result, salary follows the person rather than just the job title, more than we are used to. Salary will also focus less on money itself, and more on the quality of life that reward factors can bring to each person. In this way, rewards will become more personalised, and salary discussions will resemble general agreements rather than fixed wage contracts.

Based on our experience, we believe that personal reward systems can be linked to the annual employee dialogue, based on the level they reach in the double-loop model and their competence. See also SGL secrets 2 and 11, on Flow and Ethics.