Performance is exemplified by a thoughtful and collaborative approach to our strategy with a focus on delivering exceptional results

PERFORMANCE: Led by COO Wolfgang Fischer, Performance is exemplified by a thoughtful and collaborative approach to our strategy with a focus on delivering exceptional results.

Performance can mean different things to different people and as a value, can often be overlooked. At Affimed, performance is exemplified by a thoughtful and collaborative approach to our strategy with a focus on delivering exceptional results and is meaningfully interwoven and supported by our other values of TEAMGEIST, PEOPLE, PASSION, and INNOVATION.

The Q and A below is personal, thoughtful, and the continuation of an evolving dialogue where every voice matters as we create a supportive culture based on shared and tangible values.

What does the value of performance mean to you and how did your background influence that?

From my perspective, performance as a value is often misunderstood, so I am excited to be one of its champions as the COO of Affimed. As a value, its power reaches far beyond just focusing on deliverables or KPIs. It is about translating knowledge and expertise into tangible benefits for patients and our organization.

During my Ph.D. thesis, I read hundreds of papers, published several, and was driven to acquire even more knowledge and expertise. At a certain point, I realized it was pointless unless I could translate that knowledge into value for others. This is where my passion for performance began.

What drove that point home for me was working as a Medical Director in the emerging growth markets in Asia and seeing what happens when people—due to economics—don’t have access to much-needed drugs. I saw patients splitting the dose of a medication to make it last, sacrifice their kids’ educations, or sell their car and house simply to afford treatment. The stories were everywhere. That experience underscored the importance of translating knowledge into real-world value so patients everywhere could benefit.

How do you start to incorporate the value of performance into the culture of work?

Implementation is essential. When we first began the conversation around values, many didn’t see how performance functioned as a value. However, we were able to connect the dots to see that performance as a value is supported and driven by our other values of TEAMGEIST, PEOPLE, PASSION, and INNOVATION. This illuminated how to implement performance meaningfully within the value matrix—and we saw that it needed to be incorporated all along the way.

What are some of the challenges of incorporating and sustaining the value of performance in an organization?

Over the last three years, we have continued to strenghten our organization while at the same time, broadening our development approach and programs. Essentially, we worked on the airplane while it was flying. Being at this inflection point has involved a lot of continuous change and a high workload for all employees (in addition to the stresses and realities of a global pandemic). This presented many challenges, particularly when bringing new colleagues on board with our values and culture—a culture that we were in the very process of defining and creating, all while developing new medicines for patients. Despite this, the teams demonstrated strong performance and commitment toward fulfilling our mission to deliver new treatments to change the meaning of cancer.

This is an evolving, living, and breathing process. We have made good progress, and for that, we should be proud. However, until performance as a value is supporting every facet of our organization, we will continue our work.