22 Years – A Journey in Pictures.

What Stepwise sets in motion — in numbers, in pictures, in voices.

Since 2004, Frank Kretzschmar has met every September with the artist couple Maria and Gunnar Claudius. In the afternoon, at the large table.

Conversations about the world. A review of the past year. A look ahead to the coming months. Concluding with a stroll through the garden.

Since 2004 Gunnar and Mria Claudius have painted a watercolour for every year — a distillation of what has carried us. Alongside: what actually happened. Clients, impact, growth. 

2004 · Magical Steps

When reason and intuition
are in balance,
our steps are wise
and our actions are powerful.

Foundation of Stepwise Management. The name says it all: step by step — not consultancy based on diagrams, but support. First trip to Kenya in February 2004 — the start of a partnership that continues to this day.

2006

A tree between heaven and earth,
surrounded by the colours
of the four cardinal directions.
The unity of the world —
the only world we have.

Next: Equity Bank in Kenya. In Germany: Microsoft, Bosch-Siemens, Agilent. Switzerland and the Netherlands (Akzo Nobel). Starting with Ashok Shah (APA Insurance). First Leaders Circle at the Muthaiga Country Club — modelled on the Deidesheim Circle.

2008

They get together,
sit under a tree
and have a cup of tea.
They talk and tell stories
and — find solutions.

Strategy development and implementation through World Cafés at Pronova BKK and FORD BKK — World Cafés with more than 300 participants. Microsoft Management Centre Innsbruck. Start of work in Tanzania with the Rural Livelihood Development Company.

2010

Leaving the jungle of ignorance
requires insight.
We must cross the bridge.
On the other side, the spirit awaits.

Strategy development with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in the run-up to the Kenyan referendum. Five World Cafés with grassroots journalists. Start of work in Kosovo, strategy work with FRAPORT, start of cooperation with GIZ, Leadership Excellence Programme at the Management School St. Gallen.

2012 · Transformation

From the depths of the earth
the fire blazes,
tempered by water
it rises into the air
— out into infinity.

The four elements as the embodiment of change — movement between worlds, disciplines, languages. A year of grounding and ascents.

2014 · Contemplation

All living beings originate
from the same source,
and the Earth is their matrix.
Human beings think.
This binds them to the task
of caring for their world.
For in the end, we are all the same
and return to
where we came from: to infinity.

Commencement of strategic work in wildlife management — ten missions. Bangladesh: renewable energy. Strategic work with regional organisations in Africa. Leadership Excellence at the Management School St. Gallen. The year begins and ends — as always — with a week-long ZEN sesshin at Lassalle House, Switzerland.

2016 – Courage

Treading the path of insight
requires great courage.
To pass through the gate
and glimpse the splendour.
A dove shows the way.

“To say what is, remains the most revolutionary act” (Rosa Luxemburg). Stepwise demands courage in leadership — acting independently, being open to new realities, taking responsibility. Supporting professional learning networks in East and West Africa. Change projects in Cairo.

2018

The spiral of the wheel of time dictates:
now is the time
for new challenges.
Success comes step by step.
In the south …
Growth and prosperity.

Foundation of Stepwise Organisational Alignment Ltd. in Kenya. Consultancy assignments in Egypt and Sudan — hence the pyramids of Giza and Meroe. Strategy process for a global chemical company headquartered in the USA. First assignment in Hargeysa, Somaliland. South Africa, coaching African learning networks.

This is where the original series of images ends – what came next?

Six years without watercolours — but not without a story: 

2025

Six countries, one strategy. Preparations for the major FMBcapital realignment for 2026.