Because Strategy needs Conversation.

The Culture of the Coffeehouse

If you want to be alone but need company for it: go to the café.

See, I was always a coffee-junkie. In my early days I drank two fingers of coffee diluted with a ton of milk and sugar. Nowadays I prefer it plain. 

Growing up as an Austrian, in Austria maybe somehow this is also imprinted in my culture. 

Since the Turkish brought the brew to Austria, it became an integral part of our culinary and societal culture. This manifested in one institution: the Wiener Kaffeehaus (Viennese café).

The traditional café is a unique place. It was never thought of being a place only to drink and eat, but it was considered a place of living and working. Frequent guests could be called in the café, or even received their mail there. They offered a manifold of services: from telephone books, to city maps, to a wide variety of international newspapers. 

It was a place for community, exchange and collaboration.

Around the beginning of the 20th centuries, the café’s in Vienna were the places to be, frequented by intellectuals, politicians, and artists of all kinds.

In these cafés, writers and thinkers didn’t just ponder and create in isolation; they crossed paths, challenged each other, and tested their ideas in the company of others. 

You need a spark to start a fire.

Cafés offered a scaffolding for a whole day routine. Serving breakfast. lunch and snacks, offering leisure activities like card tables, billard or chess, and even offering live concerts, readings or similar, one could spent their whole day in these places.

The slower rhythm of these times, allowed for conversation. 

Conversation, the art of informal exchange of ideas and opinions, needs space. Looked at the latin roots of the word, conversation means “to turn around together”. 

Conversation is not polite chitchat, it is a challenge. Sometimes uncomfortable, The tension between opposing views or differing ideas can cause friction. 

Yet, ultimately it is friction you need, to create a spark.

Ask anyone who’s had an encounter with a traditional Vienna coffeehouse waiter—famous for their arrogant and sometimes even rude manner. If you weren't (and in some places aren’t) ready for it, you'd likely leave with your pride bruised.

But there’s something powerful in that. Being forced to step out of your comfort zone can be the very thing that opens up new thinking. 

That’s what makes conversation in spaces like these so potent: you’re not just bouncing ideas off people who agree with you. You’re forced to confront a different point of view—one that might make you uncomfortable. 

This discomfort is where the spark of the new awaits its moment.

Communication is not conversation.

Fast forward to today. The world has sped up. We’ve lost the coffeehouse’s leisurely pace of exchange, and with it, the way we exchange thoughts. Conversations have become communication:  faster, more transactional, and a lot of times more shallow. 

The conversations that once sparked change over a slow cup of coffee are now reduced to voice messages and emails. We’re rushing through our thoughts and ideas, not letting them fully develop.

But what happens when we don’t give those ideas the space to breathe?

We miss out on the collision of perspectives. We lose the chance to challenge our thinking and push it further. The result? We end up stuck in familiar patterns, doing what we’ve always done—and expecting a different outcome.

What we need now are places—and spaces—where we can step away from the hustle. Where the pace of business can slow down just enough for real conversations to unfold. These aren’t the kind of conversations that happen in sterile meeting rooms or echo chambers. 

They’re not about everyone agreeing and nodding along to a point of view. They’re about real exchange, where different perspectives collide, create friction, and spark new ideas.

What if we could create that? A space to come together, take a break from our usual routines, and engage in a fresh way of thinking. No slides. No pressure. Just conversation—real, messy, and full of the potential to spark new insights, hindsights and eventually foresights.

Reviving the Coffeehouse Conversations

This is why David Booth and I are hosting a series of four strategy conversations. To re-create that space. To give business leaders the chance to step out of the rush, to challenge their assumptions, and to hear—and share—different perspectives. 

There’s no agenda here. No polished presentations. Just a chance to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and spark new ideas in a way that only happens when we step away from the usual grind.

The only hiccup: you need to bring your own coffee. After all you can’t expect the best ideas to brew without a little personal flavour.

If you are interested reach out.

But whatever you do, keep #thinking.

Hi, 

I am Eva Tomas Casado, futurist by nature, engineer by training, and philosopher by heart. With Simple Thinking, I am exploring the intersections of these three realms to deduct, induce, exapt, and build new ways of acting as an answer to present and futures complexities. Join me! Or reach out and let's have a conversation, about how we could apply these ideas to your life, your environment, organization, or company.