Anyone who has had the pleasure of attending German general meetings in the pre-Corona times knows about the culture of discussion there.
It was not uncommon for shareholders to loudly discuss the quality of the lunchtime meal or the issue of parking tickets for the event location.
The move of the general meetings to the Internet has therefore given many a sigh of relief, as the online discussion is very limited.
The new generation of minority shareholders has hardly anything in common with the former small shareholders.
She is better organised, has a solid grasp of the content and is on the move with clear goals.
RWE may have good reasons to reject the faster spin-off of lignite - as demanded by the activist shareholder Enkraft - but Enkraft is fueling the discussion.
These pinpricks are right, because companies too often settle into their comfort zones despite the immense pressure to act - and are then surprised when Elon Musk suddenly shows how the electrification of automobiles works.
This is also how the - presumably unsuccessful - involvement of the investor Inyova at BMW can be seen, who proposes his own candidate for the supervisory board.
The supervisory boards of German companies may gradually be becoming more female, but in many cases they are still a long way from true diversity.
The discussion about this must not be silenced.