English translation of portray of Mathias Rangel Wulff by the Danish financial sector union magazine - April 2014

1. Finansforbundets magasin nr. 4, 2014Finansforbundets magasin nr. 4, 2014
Forhandlingerne med FA og en ny overenskomst var langvarige
og højspændte, men grundlæggende kom der et godt resultat ud
af det, mener forbundsformand Kent Petersen Side 10
Mange
knaster
skulle
høvles
af
Jagtenpådet
ungeguld
Side 28

2. This is an article from the danish magazine “Finans”
published by the union for workers in the financial
sector of Denmark April 2014.
The article is part of a series of portraits showing the
variety of people in the financial sector. They saw me
as an example of a young IT person with a clear view-
point about my role.
What follows is an unofficial translation of the article
together with the original article. My personal reflec-
tions on the original article are that the quotations
represents me, however the article as a whole lack a
steady flow in the development of the history. The
translations aims to mirror the original article as close
as possible.
- Mathias Rangel Wulff

3. 18 FINANS
April 2014
IAMHERETOMAKE
THINGSHAPPEN
The key to developing software that is truly capable of embracing and adapting
to the reality that it affects is largely about understanding the mental models of
other people, says Mathias Rangel Wulff, the 30 year old business architect at BEC.
His forte is using unconventional approaches and different angles in his efforts
to strengthen the quality of the results delivered within large software projects.
PORTRAIT
“The basic premise of software is that it is invisible - but when
it is invisible, how can we ensure that we communicate properly
about it and that we don’t just expect everyone to understand what
we mean? Usually, problems in IT start with misconceptions and
end up turning otherwise good processes into counterproductive
efforts - which can ultimately blow the budget. You can focus on
delivering IT, or you can focus on delivering the right IT. The
latter is where my focus lays.”
These thoughts, with their philosophical aspect, come from
30-year-old business architect Mathias Rangel Wulff of BEC
(BEC is a company delivering and hosting IT solutions for Danish
banks). As he sits there - with his grey tweed cap on his head, arms
gesticulating around him and a set of dark intense eyes leaving
no question about how important this matter is to him - he does
not remind me of anyone else I have interviewed as staff for this
financial union magazine. Yet, neither is this the intention. In fact,
Mathias was hired precisely because he comes with a fresh perspec-
tive on what it means to develop software.
“My role is to be a type of translator. I can argue the client’s
needs when I’m with the programmer, and articulate the program-
mer’s concern to the customer. At the same time I am a conduit
between many different departments that need to connect across
the organization to improve the quality of our solutions. At BEC,
I am put into the world to allow more things to happen and in-
spire others to understand each other better, so that the final prod-
uct is shaped the best way possible,” says Mathias, who joined the
BEC in 2012 after six months of cooperation with BEC on his
candidate thesis at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
In this thesis, he looked at the innovation capacity of BEC within
the context of a software development project for mobile banking
on iPad as a case study. It was a thesis that he achieved full grades
for.
Strengthening IT on a deeper level
Actually, the job at BEC is not Mathias’ first. In addition to hav-
ing his own IT company during his education, where he offered
IT solutions and acted as third-party consult for outsourced IT
projects, he worked two years as a programmer at the small web
development company called Linkfactory after the completion of
his training for IT Bachelor of Engineering at DTU. He wrote code
because programming had been a passion since primary school,
where he, whilst his friends played wargames, preferred to dive into
the system files of Windows 95. But life as a programmer did not
meet his expectations.
“I discovered at Linkfactory what I call ‘the dying tail,’ projects
that should have been completed, but continued to pop up. When
we dug into problems within the code, we almost always came to
the conclusion that someone had misunderstood someone else ear-
lier in the process. It pushed back all the other planning, and I
quickly felt that I only spent 40 percent of my time on what I was
actually good at: to program. I could not see myself in that job for
the next 40 years, where I felt I lacked the correct skills to handle
what I was dealing with”. Therefore, Mathias took the bull by the
horns and went back to student life - this time with a Master’s
degree in Planning, Innovation and Management at the technical
University of Copenhagen.

4. 19FINANS
April 2014 PORTRAIT
“Organizations need also to
include contorted angles and
different perspectives in order
to win in today’s market,”
says Mathias Rangel Wulff.

5. 20 FINANS
April 2014PORTRAIT
On the whole, the common thread in Mathi-
as’ life is to understand people’s mental mod-
els and figure out what it takes for them to
do what they do best, also beyond his profes-
sional life where he served as a scout leader
for more than 20 years, helping to strength-
en young people’s perception of what they are capable of doing.
Just as he has done the last 15 years, teaching samba music and
dance weekly inspiring adults to let their inner dance to sprout and
grow. “Creating good software is about ensuring that people who
are working together, understand each other. The perspective I use
is the same as when I teach dance and assess whether a person is
dancing in line with the music, or as a scout leader I must assess
whether a child should be pushed a little more, or needs some
TLC.”
A sector rooted in history
Although the job at BEC today within the financial sector inte-
grates well with Mathias, it was a meeting with a world which, in
many respects, was different to where he had previously worked.
“As a young player within the financial sector, I see it as my role
to come at things from different angles and challenge issues with
good questions. I sometimes dream that we could put everything
on hold and rethink the whole thing, but it’s obviously a solution
that’s too easy. In the financial sector you enter history. It is a book
where the things that are written, have many historically good ra-
tionale. The trick is to sense the balance between what we need
to include in the new chapter, and what can be left behind from
the last chapter. It’s basically about how to maintain the positive
aspects from the past and then discard what doesn’t make sense to-
day, sometimes it is because the world has changed and sometimes
it is because we can actually do things smarter. That’s where the
gold is,” says Mathias, who has a great respect for his colleagues
who have a long and deep insight into this complex terrain.
“We, who come with fresh eyes, have to be able to inspire others
to see and do things from a different perspective. We need to do
that because organizations need to include the various angles and
different perspectives in order to succeed in the market of today. I
believe that this sector can benefit from people entering the labor
market today, who as a premise see the world as forever changing,
not a trend, and therefore they require far more authentic questions
about what makes sense today. The organizations that are able to
embrace the contributions of this new generation and merge them
with the strengths of history, will be the ones harvesting the value
entering the job market in these coming years. “ 
“My master’s program gave me an under-
standing of how problems I encountered in
my previous job, could be handled. It is a dif-
ferent and new way to see the role of the en-
gineer which is basically about transforming
the skills of all parties involved and bringing
them to the table, into a result that demonstrates that you have
assessed and explored opportunities and solutions together,” says
Mathias, who after graduation became an IT engineer specialised
in Planning, Innovation & Management.
However, it was not initially the transformation of the software
skills, which was the focus of Mathias’ first role in BEC, but rather
a transformation of consciousness and mindset. Initially, he was
putting his forces into a major organizational change in BEC -
called “Chili” - which was seeking to bring more strength, deter-
mination, courage and energy into the organization as a whole.
“The project aimed to strengthen IT on a deeper level. The pro-
cess had a double focus. To foster awareness within each of us at
BEC about considering ourselves as a decision maker and ensure
the decision makes sense for both ourselves as employees, our cus-
tomers and BEC as a whole. And secondly as a focus on letting
BEC become a more homogenous unit where everybody tells the
same story about the company they are a part of - while still main-
taining space for the fact that we are all different. It was a unique
transformation process, which I was proud to be a part of,” says
Mathias, whose role was to orchestrate a number of workshops,
which aimed to gather all 500 employees and plant seeds for new
mindsets.
Understand each other’s mental models
After the project had been launched, Mathias went into a more
traditional role in the organization of BEC’s department dealing
with solutions for financial advisers. His focus today is to improve
and develop the solutions that each bank advisor sits with daily - in
close cooperation with a large number of banks.
“It is no longer enough that a piece of software makes some-
thing possible. Today it is a premise that your task can be done.
The focus is now on how well the software helps the user while
doing this task. The expectations of the individual user, of how
software works, have moved. Complexity must be packed away,
making it intuitive so that the user avoids errors and misunder-
standings - because it costs the box. It is no longer enough that a
system allows you to do something - today it is just as important
how it allows and helps you to do this. Our ability to understand
each other’s mental models, is key to developing software that
manages to embrace and adapt to the reality that exists in the real
world.”
“To create good software is
about ensuring that the in-
volved people understand
each other. I handle it much
the same way as when I
teach dance and assess
whether a person is danc-
ing in flow with the music.”

6. Original article in Danish.

7. 18
porTræT Finans
April 2014
jegskalfåting
tilatske
Nøglen til at udvikle software, der formår at favne og tilpasse sig den
virkelighed, der gælder, handler i dag i høj grad om at forstå hinandens
mentale modeller, mener Mathias Rangel Wulff, 30 år og forretnings-
arkitekt i BEC. Han bruger selv utraditionelle tilgange og skæve vinkler i
arbejdet med at styrke kvaliteten af resultatet i større softwareprojekter
sABinA FUrBo / Foto: MAds tEglErs
”Grundpræmissen for software er, at det er usynligt – men
når det er usynligt, hvordan kan vi så sikre, at vi snakker or-
dentligt om det? At vi ikke bare regner med, at alle forstår,
hvad hinanden mener? Ofte starter problemerne med it med
misforståelser og ender i, at ellers gode processer ikke kører
optimalt – hvilket i sidste ende koster kassen. Du kan have
fokus på at levere it, eller du kan have fokus på at levere den
rigtige it. Og det sidste er dér, mit fokus ligger”.
Tankerne med det filosofiske anstrøg kommer fra den
30-årige forretningsarkitekt i BEC Mathias Rangel Wulff. Som
han sidder der – med en gråternet sixpence på hovedet, ar-
mene gestikulerende omkring sig og et par mørke intense
øjne, som lader vide, at det her er hjerteblod – minder han
ikke umiddelbart om nogen anden finansansat, som Finans’
udsendte har interviewet. Og det er heller ikke meningen.
Rent faktisk er Mathias ansat, netop fordi han kommer med
friske perspektiver på dét at udvikle software.
”Min rolle er at være en slags oversætter. Jeg kan argu-
mentere for kundens behov, når jeg er sammen med pro-
grammøren, og italesætte programmørens bekymring over
for kunden. Samtidig trækker jeg på mange afdelinger, der
skal snakke sammen på tværs, for at styrke kvaliteten af vores
løsninger. Hos BEC er jeg sat i verden for at få flere ting til
at ske og inspirere andre til at forstå hinanden bedre, så det
endelige produkt bliver bedst muligt”, fortæller Mathias, der
blev ansat i BEC i 2012 efter et halvt års samarbejde om hans
kandidatopgave på Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU),
hvor han så på innovationskapacitet i BEC med udviklingen
af mobilbank til iPad som case. En opgave, han fik 12 for.
styrke it på et dybere plan
Egentlig er jobbet hos BEC ikke Mathias’ første. Foruden at
have sit eget it-firma under uddannelsen, hvor han tilbød it-
løsninger og tredjepartssparring, arbejdede han to år som pro-
grammør i den lille it-virksomhed Linkfactory efter færdig-
gørelsen af sin uddannelse til IT-diplomingeniør på DTU. Han
regnede med, at han skulle være den, der skrev kode, for dét
at programmere havde været en lidenskab siden folkeskolen,
hvor han – mens vennerne spillede wargames – hellere ville
dykke ned i systemfilerne på Windows 95. Men livet som pro-
grammør levede ikke helt op til forestillingerne.
”Jeg opdagede hos Linkfactory det, jeg kalder ’den døende
hale’ – projekter, som skulle være afsluttet, men som bliver ved
med at være der. Når vi dykkede ned i problemerne i koden,
endte det næsten altid med at vise sig, at nogen ikke havde
forstået hinanden tidligere i forløbet. Det skubbede til al an-
den planlægning, og jeg følte hurtigt, at jeg kun brugte 40 pro-
cent af min tid på det, som jeg rent faktisk var god til, nemlig at
programmere. Jeg kunne ikke se mig selv i et job de næste 40
år, som jeg ikke følte, jeg havde kompetencer til at håndtere”.
Derfor tog Mathias tyren ved hornene og gik tilbage til
studielivet – denne gang til en kandidatuddannelse i Plan-
lægning, Innovation og Ledelse ved DTU.
”Min kandidatuddannelse gav mig en forståelse af, ••

8. 19
porTræTFinans
April 2014
”Organisationer har brug for
også at have de skæve vinkler
og anderledes perspektiver
for at vinde i dagens marked”,
siger Mathias Rangel Wulff.

9. 20
porTræT Finans
April 2014
hvordan problemer, jeg stødte på i mit
tidligere job, kunne håndteres. Det er en
anden og ny måde at være ingeniør på,
som dybest set handler om at transformere
den faglighed, som alle involverede hver
især har, ud i et resultat, der afspejler, at
man har udfoldet og afsøgt muligheder
og løsninger sammen”, fortæller Mathias, der efter endt eksa-
men kunne kalde sig civilingeniør med speciale i Planlæg-
ning, Innovation og Ledelse.
Det blev dog i første omgang ikke transformationen af det
faglige, som blev fokus for Mathias’ første rolle i BEC, men
nærmere en transformation af bevidsthed og mindset. I starten
blev han nemlig koblet på en større organisationsændring i
BEC – kaldet ”Chili” – som overordnet skulle bringe endnu
mere styrke, vilje, mod og handlekraft ind i organisationen.
”Projektets formål var at styrke it på et dybere plan. Det
handlede dels om at arbejde med en bevidsthed om, at vi hver
især selv er beslutningstagere her i BEC, så længe man tager
stilling til, om beslutningen giver mening for både os selv,
kunderne og BEC som helhed, og dels om at blive én enhed,
der fortæller samme historie om det BEC, vi alle er en del af
– og samtidig bibeholde rum for, at vi alle er forskellige. Det
var en unik transformation, som jeg var stolt af at være en del
af”, fortæller Mathias, hvis rolle var at facilitere en række pro-
cesser, som havde til formål at samle alle 500 medarbejdere
og få sået frø til nye mindsets.
Forstå hinandens mentale modeller
Efter at projektet var gået i luften, trådte Mathias ind i en mere
traditionel rolle i organisationen i BEC’s afdeling for råd-
givningsløsninger. Hans fokus er i dag at forbedre og udvikle
de løsninger, som den enkelte bankrådgiver til daglig sidder
med – i tæt samarbejde med en lang række pengeinstitutter.
”Det er ikke længere nok, at et stykke software gør noget
muligt. I dag er det en præmis, at det kan lade sig gøre. Fokus
er på, hvor godt softwaren hjælper rådgiveren på vej. Forvent-
ningerne hos den enkelte bruger til, hvordan software virker,
har flyttet sig. Kompleksitet må pakkes væk, så det bliver in-
tuitivt, så rådgiveren undgår fejl og misforståelser – for det
koster kassen. Det er ikke længere nok, at et system giver mu-
lighed for noget – det handler i dag lige så meget om, hvor-
dan det giver mulighed for det. Det er vores evne til at forstå
hinandens mentale modeller, som er nøglen til reelt at ud-
vikle software, der formår at favne og tilpasse sig den virke-
lighed, der gælder”.
I det hele taget er den røde tråd i Mathias’ liv at forstå folks
mentale modeller og se, hvad der skal til,
for at de gør det, de er allerbedst til. Også
uden for arbejdspladsen, hvor han som
spejderleder gennem mere end 20 år er
med til at styrke unge menneskers hold-
ning til, hvem de er, og hvad de kan. Lige-
som han igennem 15 år ugentligt har un-
dervist i sambadans og musik og inspirerer voksne mennesker
til at lade deres indre dansespire vokse frem.
”At skabe god software handler om at sikre, at de men-
nesker, som er tilknyttet, forstår hinanden. Det blik, jeg bru-
ger, er det samme som når jeg underviser i dans og vurderer,
om en person danser i tråd med musikken, eller som spej-
derleder skal vurdere, om et barn skal presses lidt mere eller
har behov for en kærlig hånd”.
sektor forankret i historien
Selv om jobbet i BEC i dag passer godt til Mathias, var mødet
med den finansielle sektor et møde med en verden, som på
mange områder var anderledes, end hvor han ellers har arbejdet.
”Som ung i finanssektoren ser jeg det som min opgave at
være med til at se på og udfordre tingene med gode spørgsmål.
Jeg kan godt nogle gange drømme om, at man kunne sætte
det hele på hold og gentænke det hele, men det er naturlig-
vis for letkøbt. I finanssektoren træder du ind i historien. I
en bog, hvor de ting, der står skrevet, har rigtig mange histo-
risk set gode årsager. Kunsten er at fornemme balancen om-
kring, hvad det er, vi skal have med i det nye kapitel, og hvad
det er, vi ikke behøver at tage med, selv om det stod i det sid-
ste kapitel. Det handler i bund og grund om at bibeholde det
gode i historikken og så skille det ud, som ikke giver mening i
dag, fordi verden har flyttet sig, eller fordi vi faktisk kan gøre
tingene smartere. Det er dér, guldet ligger”, mener Mathias,
der har stor respekt for de medarbejdere, der har en lang og
dyb indsigt i deres område.
”Os, der kommer med friske øjne, er nødt til at være med til
at inspirere andre til at se og gøre tingene i et mere skævt per-
spektiv. Det er vi nødt til, for organisationer har brug for også
at have de skæve vinkler og anderledes perspektiver for at vinde
i dagens marked. Jeg tror på, at dét, som sektoren kan drage
nytte af, er, at der strømmer mennesker ud på arbejdsmarke-
det i dag, som ser det, at verden er evigt omskiftelig, som en
præmis – ikke en trend – og derfor stiller langt flere autentiske
spørgsmål til, hvad det er, der giver mening i dag. Det er de
organisationer, som formår at favne bidragene fra nye genera-
tioner og flette dem med styrken af det eksisterende, som høster
den værdi, der træder ind på markedet i disse år”. ¢
”At skabe god software
handler om at sikre, at de
mennesker, som er til-
knyttet, forstår hinanden.
Det blik, jeg bruger, er det
samme som når jeg under-
viser i dans og vurderer,
om en person danser i tråd
med musikken”

10. The full magazine can be found on
www.kortlink.dk/F9GM
or alternatively here