Dr. Michael Wellhöfer

Typical occasions – you might recognize yourself here

When no one decides

Responsibility rotates between roles.
Decisions are postponed, not made.
Meetings end with "we'll take this with us".
In the end, it falls on individuals.

If this applies: Book 25 minutes. Confidential. No sales pitch.

When conversations no longer solve anything

Conflicts remain polite – and unresolved.
Topics are circled, not clarified.
Escalations are avoided and still grow.
Trust declines without it becoming loud.

If this applies: Open a clarification space – 25 minutes.

When structure works against people

Good people are exhausted.
Responsibilities are formal, but not effective.
Interfaces create friction instead of results.
Priorities change faster than implementation.

If this applies: Write me one sentence – or book 25 minutes.

You recognize this.

Meetings that drain energy but create no direction.

Responsibility that wanders – but no one holds it.

Conflicts everyone knows but no one names.

Leaders who moderate instead of decide.

Structures that have grown but no longer hold.

This isn't a communication problem. This is avoidance.

And avoidance has costs: lost time, lost people, lost trust.

What happens if you wait

The conflict doesn't disappear. It becomes normal.

The best people leave first.

Decisions become harder – because no one knows who's actually responsible anymore.

At some point it's no longer a crisis. It's just how things are.

"He articulated the dynamics so clearly that a constructive way forward suddenly became possible – without ignoring the emotional tensions."

– Head of Digital Product Organization, tech company

I'm called when it can't go on like this.

Not for workshops. Not for team building. Not for "better communication."

But when:

A team is falling apart – and no one knows why.
Not because "the chemistry is off." But because roles are unclear. Because power has shifted without being named.

Leadership has become administration.
You're not deciding anymore. You're moderating. And you notice it's not enough.

Two companies merged – but aren't growing together.
Two cultures, two logics. No integration. Just quiet sabotage.

Growth is tearing apart old structures.
What worked with 20 people doesn't work with 200. Silos form. Founders lose oversight.

"Decisions became possible again because clarity returned to roles and processes."

– Business Manager, MedTech company

What I'm not.

Not a motivational speaker.

Not a feel-good consultant.

Not a moderator who treats all opinions equally.

I don't believe in "positive energy" as a solution for structural problems.
I don't believe every conflict is a hidden opportunity.
Sometimes conflicts are simply symptoms of something that no longer functions.

If you expect a quick fix – I'm wrong for you.

If you're ready to look closely – let's talk.

How I work.

Every project starts with individual conversations. Not with your analysis. With the perspectives of those affected.

I listen. To what is said. And to what may not be said.

I name what lies in the room. Unspoken conflicts. Power shifts. False attributions. My task is not harmony. It's clarity.

I hold contradictions. Organizations are contradictory. People are contradictory. There isn't one right answer.

I work with you – not for you. I don't deliver solutions. I think with you. Until something different becomes possible.

Timeframe: 6 weeks to 6 months. Not because I stretch things out. But because real clarity takes time.

More about my role and how I work →

What was different afterwards.

Tech company · Development team

Decisions took weeks. No one knew who was responsible.

An international team had grown. What worked informally before no longer worked. Stakeholders stopped talking to each other.

After: Decisions were made within days again.

4 countries · 300 employees

Conflicts escalated. No one knew who was responsible for what.

Planning opaque. Capacities unclear. Every coordination became a power struggle.

After: Escalations became the exception.

Product & Engineering

Every discussion became a conflict.

Two departments no longer spoke the same language. Assumptions went unspoken. Priorities collided.

After: Priorities were collectively supported for the first time.

Organizational development

No one knew what new structures should look like.

A company wanted to become flatter. Old hierarchies no longer fit. But no one dared take responsibility.

After: Responsibility was clearly distributed again.

Physicist. Systemic mediator. 20 years of experience with systems that no longer work – technical, organizational, human.

I became a scientist because one question wouldn't let go: Why do things function as they do – and why sometimes not?

That question took me from research to medical technology. And from there to organizations that are stuck.

Conflicts are rarely the actual problem. They're the visible symptom of underlying structures. Treating only the conflict is like treating the fever, not the infection.

More about my work as a mediator →

"We were constantly talking, but nothing moved forward. He listened carefully to both sides and clarified the critical issues so precisely that we became capable of action again."

– Medical doctor, practice owner