Brain Food: Helmut Panke - If i had to start again ...
I actually started out in nuclear physics. I attended a prep school in the US, following dreams created by watching James Dean movies, of hanging out and dating. I was thinking of pursuing a business degree, but my physics teacher there really sold me on the beauty of science. When I finished my physics major and PhD, I was still tempted by the business side, as I couldn't see myself spending my life in a white lab-coat; at this point I discovered my guiding theme - keeping one foot on well-known ground, with the other experimenting.
I moved to Switzerland to take part in an international research project. The subject was familiar, but my project management role was new. That led to a post at McKinsey. My father asked me why I didn't get a real job. I told him that, again, it combined something I could do well with plenty I could learn.
In 1981, I became BMW's head of planning in R&D, and soon got the job of corporate planning in the US. This was the fulfilment of a life's dream, a physicist moving into industry. My family couldn't believe I had gone into the automotive sector. They said the industry was disappearing, and that BMW was the least likely to survive. But it felt right: I just loved the cars.
I could never have planned my career. I've worked in every area at BMW, from HR to IT, from manufacturing to sales; I've been CFO, which was fun, and CEO. I've just always added uncharted territory to what I'd done before, and followed my instincts.
