How would you characterize Novozymes' BioBusiness?
Novozymes has a fantastically good technology platform. In BioBusiness our job is to build up businesses outside enzymes using this platform. There are so many potential opportunities. We have to try out ideas, remove uncertainties, and develop businesses, even if in some cases there are those who say we’ve tried it thousands of times before, it doesn’t work and it can’t be done. Then we have to see the possibilities and respond: “There’s a market need and we have the technology; if we can get the two things to come together, there’s really something worth pursuing.”
This obviously requires a very special culture and a very special mindset. We must have the courage, the energy, and the determination to persist, as well as the ability to say stop if it turns out that the preconditions aren’t satisfied.
This is precisely what will characterize us in BioBusiness; a willingness to try new things, a desire to change markets using our technology, and a way of working where we support each other and believe that it’s okay to fail provided you’ve thought things through and that you learn from the experience.
Why do you work for Novozymes?
I work for Novozymes because it has a fantastic culture. We want to develop, learn, innovate, and challenge. We want to come up with new ways of doing things. We’re always optimistic about finding a solution, even if occasionally things look black. I think this is really exciting.
As an employee there have always been opportunities. There is always something that you can do, there is always something that you can develop towards. Novozymes is an organization that gives fantastic freedom with responsibility. Here you are really allowed to try out new things.
It’s lovely to work for a company where you can endorse and be proud of what you make. This is something that is very important for me. It’s wonderful that you don’t need to indulge in any wishful thinking to believe that what we produce is good. Working for Novozymes is great!