EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AT HEWLETT-PACKARD
After a decade of marketing & research during the roaring nineties within Hewlett-Packard Int., Arjan Postma (1972) became a lector in interactive & strategic marketing at several business schools. His focus was on how technological innovation impacts society and maybe even more important, how do societies impact technological innovation?!

 

APPLIED CREATIVITY & DOTCOM
This question eventually grew into a research & development agency, UR/Jamby (URJ) - an early-stage incubator, responsible for digital creativity, strategy & innovation. On the brink of the new Millennium, Arjan (managing director) experimented with the fusion of emerging technology and creativity, challenging the dilemma of scale versus meaning. This resulted in the open source development of several new technologies for interactive media platforms from early-stage blogs, up to the very first podcasts and later also streaming video and (serious) games. All with the aim to engage in a deeper dialogue with a broader audience.

 

A GIANT LEAP FROM RTL TO THE NASA
One of the initial projects was the development of the digital infrastructure, enabling the first reality-series ‘Big Brother. To be frank, never knew up front it was going to be such a global ‘television’ hit.  The rollercoaster of the first dot-com wave took the company from clients like RTL up to NASA and then burst apart. All the pioneering employees have become thought-leaders in their own respective fields of expertise and have remained to be a strong network, nowadays stretching from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen. The lessons learned from this unique experience Arjan captured in a documentary series with the provoking research question: "Powerplay: Who determines your near future?".

 

SCENARIO THINKING MEETS DESIGN THINKING AT STANFORD D.SCHOOL

Arjan remained his appetite to train entrepreneurial talent in the field of Applied Creativity and worked closely with Stanford D.school as part of the founding team of THNK, the Amsterdam School for Creative Leadership. He was especially invested to translate the upcoming Design thinking approach to be used in the more complex, contemporary social challenges we face when dealing with sustainability.

SOCIAL & DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION WITH FREEDOMLAB FUTURE STUDIES

Based on his experience and insights into these two major aspects of disruptive innovation; 1] Disruptive technologies at corporate HP and 2] the more value-driven approach at scale-up URJ, Arjan then founded a European institute for Future Studies, FreedomLab.  At that moment in time, strategy and creativity were still seen as two opposing fields of expertise. Fortunately, times change, and attitudes shift which allowed the social venture FreedomLab to grow into a 3000 m2 campus & lab, daily experimenting in real life with 21st-century Leadership, Disruptive Innovation and the Future of Work. He sold the company after a beautiful fifteen yearlong adventure.

 

ALL-IN ON WICKED PROBLEMS & SUSTAINABILITY

Arjan his signature approach is to make extremely complex things more ‘simple’. To help people grasp the essence and to guide a group of people through a so-called wicked challenge. This is in full co-creation. Not by telling participants what the world looks like (cognitive) but by boosting their creative confidence and capacities (experiential) to challenge hidden assumptions and existing conventions. This approach is not just about Getting Things Done (efficient), but about Getting The Right Things done (effect) - by working from a shared future vision ánd a purpose.
 

INTERVIEWING 150 GLOBAL LEADERS ON CHANGE, STRATEGY AND CREATIVITY

Being an explorer in uncharted territories meant that knowhow was to be gained from real-life experiments. Over the last decade, For his research, Arjan, therefore, interviewed well over 150 global opinion leaders in his fields of expertise varying from Secretary Albright to philosopher Nussbaum up to the design team of Apple, the creative director of Pixar, and many more.

JOINING (SUPERVISORY) BOARDS & BOARD OF ETHICS
Arjan has applied his approach to a large range of the top 100 companies from the Guggenheim to Ahold, from TomTom to Ubisoft as well as many upcoming startups throughout Europe and the USA. In addition, Arjan served on several international Advisory and Supervisory boards, investment committees and a Board of Ethics, on behalf of Dutch private equity firms and pension funds.
 

HOW TO UNLEASH THE EXPLORER IN US ALL?
To strive for impact, Arjan is continuously challenging leaders and teams to learn to reframe, to pivot their way of working, by changing their way of looking at the world. Reflecting on why he was often asked to join a team or project he concluded that his naturally unconventional mindset was often the trigger, hence the nickname Mr. Unconventional. This led him to encounter a new mission in 2014, with the indy initiative Skout.ed - the Skool Of Unconventional Thinking. A new school of thought ánd practice to unleash the explorer in us all. An open learning landscape for a more inquisitive and designerly way of organizing change’. (In Dutch: ‘Een onderzoekende, ontwerpende & ondernemende manier van organiseren’.)

 

WWXD: WHAT WOULD X DO?

‘Amor Mundi - You need to love the world before you can love yourself’. This famous quote by philosopher Hannah Arendt inspired Arjan’s dream to turn the world into one giant classroom. Everything around us has a certain way of design and organization from craftsmen to ancient tribes, from entrepreneurs to nature. We can provoke our own thinking by continuously shifting, perspective and learn by asking ourselves: What Would X do? Each time we look at the same landscape from a new perspective, through a new lens, we will see new opportunities.

 

NEXT PRACTICES: MAKING AN IMPACT, TOGETHER!

In 2020, to allow as many professionals to profit from these perspective-changing tools, Arjan extended the Skout.ed research collective with WWXD.COM. A platform to inspire ánd guide professionals in so-called next-practices. Helping people to continuously challenge ánd anticipate possible futures - to in the end better understand where we are today and what impact we could be making, together!

A PLEDGE FOR PURPOSE

In 2021 Arjan took a Pledge for Purpose stating he will only take on projects that at least have a clear & positive impact on one of the 17 SDG’s.

 

RVX, AN INSPIRING PROGRAM FOR 21st CENTURY LEADERS

To accelerate this promise, in early 2021, Arjan went into strategic cooperation with Marty Tuk & Jan Rapmund from Green Balloon to design a unique and tailored program for (supervisory)  boards on subjects Like new tech possibilities, social values, and business models. This program is now called RVX and is exclusively offered through The Executive Network (TEN).

LECTOR & AUTHOR ON FUTURE STUDIES & THE 21st CENTURY CHALLENGES
Arjan loves to engage in dialogue, by sharing his pragmatic ‘deconstructions of current affairs and learning from the many different views in the world. In addition to being a sparring partner to leaders facing tough challenges, Arjan is on a regular basis joining discussion panels and an author & speaker on topics like Becoming more Future Ready, Wise Decision Making, Unconventional Thinking, Generative Cultures & Sustainable Strategies.