Rolf Dobelli
Encyclopedia
Rolf Dobelli is a Swiss novelist, entrepreneur
and chairman of getAbstract
.
He was born in 1966 in Lucerne
, Switzerland
. In 1986, he enrolled at the University of St. Gallen
, where he studied business, earning his MBA in 1991 and PhD in 1995. He was hired by Swissair
in 1992 and held several managerial positions in his time there. In 1999, he co-founded getAbstract
, a provider of book summaries (both in fiction and non-fiction).
Rolf Dobelli has a weekly book show on Bloomberg Television
Germany and on Neue Zürcher Zeitung
, Switzerland's most reputable daily newspaper. He has been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Business 2.0, Financial Times, Harvard Management Update, WirtschaftsWoche, Facts, Cash, and many other U.S. and European business newspapers and magazines. He writes a weekly column on cognitive errors for Sonnntagszeitung of Tamedia
and for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
. He regularly reviews books for The Washington Post
.
In 2003, Diogenes Verlag published his first novel
, Fünfunddreissig (literally, "Thirty-five"). It became a bestseller and was translated into several languages. His second novel, Und was machen Sie beruflich? ("What Do You Do for a Living?") was published in 2004, Himmelreich, in 2006, Wer bin ich? ("Who am I?"), Turbulenzen ("Turbulence?") in 2007 and Massimo Marini in 2010, all by Diogenes. His only non-fiction work is Die Kunst des klaren Denkens ("The Art of Clear Thinking"), published by Carl Hanser Verlag
in 2011, which became an instant success and landed on Der Spiegel
Bestseller list .
Dobelli's specialty is the intersection between business
and fiction
. The major themes in his work include the search for meaning in the workplace, the meaning of success and the role of randomness
in life. His fictional questionnaires and aphorisms on these topics have been reprinted in several newspapers and magazines. Critics and readers have praised him as "a new language in German fiction" Weltwoche and one of the few fiction writers who thoroughly understand the business world, from both an academic and practical point of view. The novel Himmelreich has been praised by several critics as a new Homo Faber (novel)
, and Dobelli is often compared to Max Frisch
in terms of style.
Dobelli is also founder and curator of zurich.minds
, an invitation-only community of the most distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs in and around Switzerland.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and chairman of getAbstract
GetAbstract
getAbstract is a Swiss- and US-based corporation that is best known for creating abstracts of business books . getAbstract delivers Abstracts of books -- currently more than 7000 titles. Many companies offer their employees full access to getAbstract's library...
.
He was born in 1966 in Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In 1986, he enrolled at the University of St. Gallen
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
, where he studied business, earning his MBA in 1991 and PhD in 1995. He was hired by Swissair
Swissair
Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...
in 1992 and held several managerial positions in his time there. In 1999, he co-founded getAbstract
GetAbstract
getAbstract is a Swiss- and US-based corporation that is best known for creating abstracts of business books . getAbstract delivers Abstracts of books -- currently more than 7000 titles. Many companies offer their employees full access to getAbstract's library...
, a provider of book summaries (both in fiction and non-fiction).
Rolf Dobelli has a weekly book show on Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P...
Germany and on Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is a major German language Swiss daily newspaper based in Zurich.One of the oldest newspapers still published, it originally appeared as Zürcher Zeitung, edited by Salomon Gessner, from January 12, 1780, and was renamed to Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1821...
, Switzerland's most reputable daily newspaper. He has been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Business 2.0, Financial Times, Harvard Management Update, WirtschaftsWoche, Facts, Cash, and many other U.S. and European business newspapers and magazines. He writes a weekly column on cognitive errors for Sonnntagszeitung of Tamedia
Tamedia
Tamedia AG is a media company in Switzerland.Its most important publications is the Tages-Anzeiger, a daily newspaper based in Zurich. It also owns the weekly SonntagsZeitung, the free national newspaper 20 Minuten, the free Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich, the weekly financial newspaper Finanz und...
and for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
. He regularly reviews books for The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
.
In 2003, Diogenes Verlag published his first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Fünfunddreissig (literally, "Thirty-five"). It became a bestseller and was translated into several languages. His second novel, Und was machen Sie beruflich? ("What Do You Do for a Living?") was published in 2004, Himmelreich, in 2006, Wer bin ich? ("Who am I?"), Turbulenzen ("Turbulence?") in 2007 and Massimo Marini in 2010, all by Diogenes. His only non-fiction work is Die Kunst des klaren Denkens ("The Art of Clear Thinking"), published by Carl Hanser Verlag
Carl Hanser Verlag
Carl Hanser Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1928 by Carl Hanser in Munich. Among the authors he published are Herta Müller, Martin Mosebach, Reinhard Jirgl, and David Grossman....
in 2011, which became an instant success and landed on Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
Bestseller list .
Dobelli's specialty is the intersection between business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. The major themes in his work include the search for meaning in the workplace, the meaning of success and the role of randomness
Randomness
Randomness has somewhat differing meanings as used in various fields. It also has common meanings which are connected to the notion of predictability of events....
in life. His fictional questionnaires and aphorisms on these topics have been reprinted in several newspapers and magazines. Critics and readers have praised him as "a new language in German fiction" Weltwoche and one of the few fiction writers who thoroughly understand the business world, from both an academic and practical point of view. The novel Himmelreich has been praised by several critics as a new Homo Faber (novel)
Homo Faber (novel)
Homo Faber is a novel by Max Frisch, first published in Germany in 1957. The first English edition was published in England in 1959. The novel is written as a first-person narrative. The protagonist, Walter Faber, is a successful engineer traveling throughout Europe and the Americas on behalf of...
, and Dobelli is often compared to Max Frisch
Max Frisch
Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...
in terms of style.
Dobelli is also founder and curator of zurich.minds
Zurich.minds
Zurich.Minds is a community of creative and innovative people in and around Switzerland, personalities from science, technology, enterprise, art and design. It meets once a year for a closed-door conference. The Switzerland edition of The Wall Street Journal , the Swiss national television and...
, an invitation-only community of the most distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs in and around Switzerland.
Works
- Fünfunddreissig (Thirty-five), 2003
- Und was machen Sie beruflich? (What do you do for a Living?), 2004
- Himmelreich (Himmelreich), 2006
- Wer bin ich? (Who am I ?), 2007
- Turbulenzen (Turbulence), 2007
- Massimo Marini, 2010
- Die Kunst des klaren Denkens (The Art of Clear Thinking), 2011
External links
- http://www.dobelli.com - Author's website
- http://www.getAbstract.com - Author's firm
- Portrait on German National TV