customercentric and sustainable products and business models, through facilitation and coaching

The most expensive mistakes in industrial product development rarely happen late.
They happen at the very beginning — when teams believe they already know enough to commit.

In that moment:

• assumptions feel like facts
• direction feels logical
• confidence replaces evidence
• budgets and engineering capacity get locked
• and reversing course becomes costly or impossible.

This is what I call false certainty before commitment.

Industrial companies don’t usually fail because of bad execution.
They fail because critical decisions were made on invisible, untested assumptions long before development resources were committed.

That’s where I come in.

I design decision processes for industrial leadership and product teams exactly at the point where:

• a product idea feels right but lacks evidence
• multiple options compete for development capacity
• market assumptions are driving internal commitment
• strategic direction is being locked before real validation
• circular business model decisions increase systemic risk.

My role is not to create ideas.
Not to build consensus.
Not to decide for you.

My role is to make decision-relevant assumptions visible, structure uncertainty and help teams gain clarity before serious resources are committed.

Because once development budgets, engineering capacity and roadmaps are locked, every wrong assumption becomes expensive.

If you are currently facing an early product, market or business model decision that feels “already decided” - that is exactly the moment where an external decision perspective prevents costly lock-in.

Florian Hameister

HOW A DONKEY CAN TELL TIME—AND WHY IT MATTERS FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT


Did you instantly know how that works? 
Or did you assume?

That’s the thing about assumptions—we make them all the time without realizing it.

And in product development, unchecked assumptions can waste massive amounts of time, money, and effort.

Instead of building on guesses:

✅ Get a different perspective—work with heterogeneous teams and ask the right questions.

✅ Listen to your customers—understand their real challenges before jumping to solutions.

✅ Gather evidence—don’t rely on gut feeling alone.

✅ Most importantly, make assumptions explicit—so everyone knows what’s based on proof and what still needs validation.

The costliest mistakes aren’t made by what you don’t know—they’re made by what you think you know but don’t.

What’s the biggest assumption you’ve seen go wrong in product development? 👇


_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

Decision Risks Before Product Commitment | Helping industrial decision-makers avoid costly mistakes before development budgets, capacities and roadmaps are locked in.

MOST TEAMS STILL SOLVE MADE-UP PROBLEMS

It happens every day:
➪ A customer does something.
➪ Teams assume they know what’s going on.
➪ They deliver a solution nobody asked for.

Result? Another product that fixes a problem that never existed.

Lesson: Assumptions kill innovation.
Validation creates it.

_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

SOMETIMES A GOOD METHOD JUST NEEDS THE RIGHT MOMENT.

Over the past few years, I attended two meetups with
Janek Panneitz,
and each time I had the same feeling:

Great method.
But honestly, I never fully knew how I would really use it in my own work.

A few months ago, I had this gut feeling
that now it might finally make sense.

Not because the method suddenly became better.
But because I look at it differently today.

Through my systemic training, which I started last year,
I’ve begun to truly understand what happens on the meta level:
•	what good questions actually trigger
•	which topics surface (and why)
•	why people react so differently to the same input
•	and what that tells us about teams, priorities, and decisions

And that’s where the 3D-Welten by Janek Panneitz is incredibly strong.

It doesn’t push teams toward quick answers.
It creates space to observe.
And it makes things visible that usually stay unspoken.

What became very clear to me:
There’s huge potential in working on this level.
And at the same time, I realized how much more there still is for me to learn there.

Add to that a great group
(open and thoughtful),
and Janek, who consistently opens up that meta perspective:

What’s actually happening here right now?

Thank you, Janek,
and thanks to everyone who made these two days so intense.

This definitely feels like an important next building block –
for my work and for myself.

No alternative text description for this image

"YOU HAVE TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!"

🤮🤮

I hear this all the time in ideation sessions. And honestly?
I’m not a fan.

Why?

Because in many cases, it’s frustrating and unhelpful.
Often, the real challenge isn’t thinking outside the box—it's thinking inside it.

Working within constraints can be far more effective.
It forces creativity with real-world limitations instead of wishful thinking.

Methods like TRIZ and SIT offer brilliant ways to innovate inside the box—by leveraging existing resources, patterns, and systematic approaches.



Check out Grant Snider’s fantastic illustrations below.


_ _ _


👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

outside the box

Most ideas don’t fail in the market.

They get killed internally—often by management.

Why?

Because they get presented as just an idea—with no deeper thought, no clear value, and no business model behind them.

If you want your idea to survive, take the time to figure out:

➪ How it helps your customers make progress in getting their jobs done

➪ How it supports relevant business outcomes that make it a no-brainer for management to support

An idea without context is easy to reject.

An idea that solves real problems—both for customers and the business—is hard to ignore.



How do you make sure your ideas don’t get stuck? 



_ _ _


👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

You just had an idea and want to pitch it directly to m

JUST BECAUSE IT ADDS UP DOESN’T MEAN IT WORKS FOR CUSTOMERS.

A PS3 + a PS2 = a PS5, right?
Well… not exactly. 😂

But this kind of thinking happens all the time in product development.

📌 Companies stack features instead of solving real problems.

📌 Teams assume more = better, without validating if it actually helps customers.

📌 Products become overcomplicated—meeting internal logic but failing real-world needs.


True customer understanding isn’t about math; it’s about insights:

💡 What do customers really need?

💡 What drives them to switch to a new solution?

💡 Are you solving their problem or just adding things together?


I hope that made you smile a bit. I wish you a wonderful weekend.



_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

Rejection sucks.

And if you’re an innovator, you know—rejection is part of the game.

It forces us to find new ways, rethink assumptions, and learn.

And let’s be honest: most ideas should be rejected.
But in the process, good ideas often get lost as collateral damage.

That’s why a structured, clear, and smooth idea selection process is so important.


As a rule of thumb 👍:
 Idea selection should take twice as long as idea generation.


And no, I don’t mean dumping ideas into an Excel file, assigning numbers, and hoping for the best.

I came across a brilliant piece of art by Grant Snider on rejection—it sums this up perfectly.

How does your company handle idea selection?


_ _ _


👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

rejection

COOL TECHNOLOGY IS WORTHLESS—UNLESS PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT IT.

It’s easy to build something just because it’s possible.
The hard part? Building something people actually need.

We see it all the time:
📌 Products packed with useless features

📌 Tech that’s impressive—but solves no real problem

📌 Innovation driven by capability instead of customer needs

 
Take smart fridges as an example.

Manufacturers added touchscreens, cameras, and shopping list features to make them feel futuristic.
But most people already use their phones for shopping lists.
And how often do you really check inside your fridge remotely?

The result? A cool gadget—but not an essential upgrade yet.

💡 It’s much easier to create technology people don’t want than to build something they truly need.

The key? Start with the customer—not just the technology.


BTW: That does not mean that a smart fridge is bullsh*t. It could become relevant if my fridge could take the whole task and just tell me what is in the refrigerator and what is missing, and maybe order the missing part itself. Then, it helps me to make real progress.


_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

90% OF NEW PRODUCTS FAIL—AND IT’S NOT JUST BAD LUCK.

In 90% of cases, failure isn’t because of “others.”
It’s because the fundamentals weren’t right—before development even started.

The good news? You can reduce this risk dramatically.

To make sure a product actually succeeds, you need to clear three major hurdles before even thinking about development:

📌 Strategy Fit – Does this align with your company’s direction?

📌 Problem-Solution Fit – Does your solution truly solve a relevant customer problem?

📌 Product-Market Fit – Do enough people care enough to pay for it?


Today, let’s focus on Problem-Solution Fit and why it matters.

Simply put, it’s about whether your solution actually solves the problem you defined—and if customers see it the same way.

1️⃣ Make sure you’re solving a relevant problem

For this to work, the problem you define must be urgent and important for your customers.

💡 Jobs-to-be-Done interviews help you understand what customers need to make progress.

In most cases, you already have an idea and are now looking for a problem to match it.
Still, I highly recommend conducting interviews without mentioning your solution.

Beforehand, define your assumptions about the problem you believe customers have—then validate how many of these are actually true.

When defining the customer problem, reflect on:
📌 Jobs customers are trying to get done
📌 Pains they experience in this context
📌 Gains they are looking for

Prioritize them based on the insights gained from interviews.
The Value Proposition Canvas is an excellent tool to visualize how well your solution fits the problem.


2️⃣ Define how your product creates value

Now, map out:
✅ How your product relieves specific pains (Pain Relievers)
✅ How your product enhances certain gains (Gain Creators)

Then, turn them into clear assumptions, e.g.:
“I believe that this (pain reliever) reduces this (pain) in a way that is relevant to the customer.”


3️⃣ Validate your assumptions with real customers

Believing in your own solution isn’t enough—you need actual feedback and validation.

💡 Think about how you can test your assumptions.
💡 Check out the books "Pretotyping" and “Testing Business Ideas.”
💡 Formulate hypotheses that help you prove your assumptions wrong.


TL;DR:
✔ Use the Value Proposition Canvas to check if your solution truly fits the problem.
✔ Define assumptions and test them, because your customers—not you—need to believe your solution will help them make progress.



_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

START WITH THE CUSTOMER—NOT THE TECHNOLOGY.

It’s tempting to start with technology and then figure out how to sell it. 

I know this from my experience as an engineer, and I see it quite commonly as a facilitator and consultant in many midsized industrial companies.

However, in my opinion, and according to Steve Jobs, that’s the wrong approach.

💡 “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

Too many companies build impressive features—but forget to ask:

📌 Does this solve a real customer problem?

📌 Is this actually needed, or just possible?

📌 Are we designing for the user—or for ourselves?

The best innovation isn’t about technology. It’s about helping customers to make progress in their lives.



_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

“People don’t buy products—they hire them to do a job.”

This video captures it perfectly:

Two women, one frying pan.

For one, it’s a tool for its intended purpose: cooking

For the other, it becomes something entirely different — playing tennis or something more hurtful 🤪

Same product, completely different “jobs.”

This is a crucial reminder for anyone working in product development and marketing:

Your customers bring their own goals, challenges, and contexts to the table.

While you might see your product serving one purpose, they’re “hiring” it for something entirely unexpected.

What I can recommend is don’t just sell features.

Take the time to understand the real “job” your customers are trying to get done—and how your product fits into that.

It’s about seeing through their eyes and creating solutions that truly make a difference.

Have you had experience or used a product yourself in a totally different way?



_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

STOP SPRAYING AND PRAYING WITH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Most companies treat product development like archery—
except they fire dozens of arrows blindly and hope one hits the target.

Instead of validating first, they push as many ideas as possible into development, tying up resources and slowing everything down.

But here’s the thing:

🔹 More projects ≠ More success
🔹 Unvalidated ideas = Wasted effort
🔹 Product failure is often predictable—if you test assumptions early

The better approach?

✅ Frontload your process—validate before committing resources.
✅ Ensure the idea fits your business strategy and solves a real customer problem.
✅ Then—and only then—put it into development.

One well-aimed arrow is worth more than a dozen random shots.

How does your company ensure it’s shooting at the right targets?



_ _ _


👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

idea validation before development

IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, IT'S RARELY ABOUT having the most advanced technology, the best design, or the most enormous budget that makes the biggest difference.

It's usually just understanding real customer needs, validating demand early, and adapting based on evidence.

If you're still building based on assumptions, just start testing ideas with real customers before investing heavily.

_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

YOU DON’T NEED A PERFECT PRODUCT TO GET CUSTOMERS.

What you really need is proof of demand, early market feedback, and the ability to adapt quickly.

Most companies believe launching with a fully built product ensures success, but the truth is early validation beats late perfection every time.

If you're still waiting until everything is polished before testing demand, you're not de-risking your product—you’re making it more fragile.

_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

EVERYONE THINKS THEY NEED a groundbreaking idea, a huge budget, or the perfect timing to succeed in product development.

What they really need is to escape internal biases, validate early with real customers, and test assumptions before building.

Most teams fail because they trust internal opinions over actual customer insights. They assume they know what the market wants—until they launch, and reality proves them wrong.

If you're still making product decisions based on what your team believes instead of what your customers show, you're not innovating—you're gambling.

_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

BEFORE YOU OFFER A SOLUTION… MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE PROBLEM.

In the video, a guy confidently feeds a dog a treat…
Only to realize he was feeding the wrong end. 😅

Sounds ridiculous?
Well, companies do this all the time—offering solutions before truly understanding the customer’s problem.

Before launching your next product, ask:
✅ What job is the customer trying to get done?
✅ What pain are they experiencing?
✅ Does your solution actually help them progress?

Because if you don’t check first, you might end up feeding the wrong end. 🫠



_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

🖼️ Video: All rights and credits belong to the respective owner(s).

Business case hints for new products to prove the desirability:

1. Define the required business outcomes based on strategy 

2. Check the customer-problem fit

3. Check the problem-solution fit

  - Define your value proposition

  - Check how it relates to your customers' jobs, pains, and gains

  - Define your assumptions that need to be true

  - Validate your assumptions

When you have proof that the product idea is desired and goes with the strategy, go on with a deep dive into feasibility, design, and viability. 


_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

YOU AREN'T REWARDED FOR YOUR PRODUCT.

You're rewarded for helping customers achieve progress in fulfilling their jobs.

So don't spend too much time building the perfect product from your perspective.

Instead, spend much more time understanding your customers, testing and iterating your idea until you have the right product for them.

Then, build it right.


_ _ _



👋 Hi, I’m Florian!
💡 I help innovation teams reduce risks in early-stage product development and turn chaos into clarity.
🌍 Passionate about #CustomerCentricity & #CircularEconomy as drivers for #Innovation.

📌 Want frameworks & tools to make better product decisions?
🗂 Get free access to my Library for Innovation & Circular Economy – full of templates, guides & checklists.
🔗 Find it in my Featured Section.
📬 Let’s connect! I’d love to hear your take.

Innovation keynote speaker, Number One Thought Leader Design Thinking 2024, LinkedIn Top Voice helping you and your organisation, to become amazing innovators with keynotes, workshops, and a proven innovation method.

Making innovation happen is a tough job! It requires priority, management buy-in, creativity, structure and perseverance.

Do you want to double your innovation effectiveness and create a culture for innovation? Then I can help you for sure.

As an empathic storyteller with 40 years of innovation experience all over the world, I will inspire you with my speeches, workshops and innovation methods, in a practical way, delivering quick wins and changing mindsets leading to long term change in your organisation. 

I am honoured to be chosen by LinkedIn as Influencer, thanking all of my 310.000+ followers. Thinkers360 just awarded me as Number One Global Thought Leader on Design Thinking in 2024. And my book ‘The Innovation Maze’ was crowned as Management Book of the Year.

When you want to spark a culture for innovation in your organisation, I can add value in four ways:

1. As author with 5 innovation books. Check out 'Inspiration for Innovation', 'The Innovation Maze' and my 'classic' on innovation 'The Innovation Expedition', an my innovation bestseller on Amazon.

2. As storyteller with keynote lectures (online). As illustrative storyteller with an informal style, full of insight, humor, and entertainment I inspire leadership teams, innovators and business professionals on innovation and design thinking (see gijsvanwulfen.com).

3. As practical trainer in workshops (online). In 1 -, or 2-day workshops, I train your people in a very practical way how to start innovation and create a culture for innovation within your organisation (see gijsvanwulfen.com).

4. As facilitator with the proven FORTH innovation method. With the structured FORTH methodology I help people in organizations worldwide to jumpstart innovation and create new products, services and business models (see www.forth-innovation.com). Scientific research has proven that FORTH doubles the effectiveness of your innovation process, as 3 out of 4 new business cases get launched.

Call or direct message me when you are looking for a speaker, workshop facilitator to increase your innovation effectiveness at 0030 6985716289 or gijs@forth-innovation.com

Specialties: Innovation. Design Thinking. Ideation. Service Innovation. Innovation management. Innovation Organisation. Innovation culture. Innovation leadership. Concept development. Product innovation. New business development. New Product Development (NPD). Design Thinking. Brainstorming. Innovation seminars, innovation workshops, innovation presentations, innovation key-notes, FORTH innovation method, innovation consulting, innovation training.

Gijsbertus J.J. van Wulfen

🇸🇦 Riyadh | February 1–5
Innovation leaders, this is for you.

I’m excited to be in Riyadh from February 1–5, introducing the proven FORTH Innovation Methodology — now available in Arabic.

If you’re passionate about innovation and want to turn ambition into real impact, I warmly invite you to two public events hosted at the SAB Innovation Center:

✨ Keynote | February 1 (7–9 PM)
“How You Can Double Your Innovation Effectiveness in Saudi Arabia”
A practical, inspiring keynote on how organizations can structurally improve innovation results—aligned with the Saudi context.
👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/dE8C4cX4

🛠 Workshop | February 2 (7–9 PM)
“How to Align Innovation with Strategy”
Experience the FORTH method hands-on and draft your own innovation assignment during the session.
👉 Register here: https://gforms.app/fVm36Om

⚠️ Limited seats available
Feel free to bring a colleague or client—just make sure they register as well.

I’m very much looking forward to meeting you in person and working together on stronger, more effective innovation.

Innovative regards,
Gijs van Wulfen

#SaudiArabia #Riyadh #InnovationKSA #Vision2030 #SaudiInnovation
#DesignThinking #InnovationLeadership #CorporateInnovation
#ArabicInnovation #FORTHMethod #SAB #FutureOfInnovation

Award-winning innovation keynote speaker | Founder of the FORTH innovation method | Empowering and training the world’s innovation facilitators

Early morning in Milano - Naviglio.

I picked up my friend Ryusuke Koyama. Streets still quiet. Mind awake.
When routine sleeps, curiosity leads—
and the city becomes a question instead of an answer.

Walk far enough, and you don’t just discover places. You become yourself.

#Milano #Exploration #Curiosity #OutOfComfortZone #UrbanSolitude #SlowMorning #CityWalking #ExistentialTravel 🇮🇹

Picture Ryusuke Koyama

How to Make Innovation Trustworthy in 2026?

In 2026, your best (AI) ideas won’t be blocked by a lack of creativity. They’ll be blocked by a lack of trust.

That’s why I use a simple explanation for decision makers why the FORTH Innovation Method is a proven widely used innovation methodology: FORTH doesn’t just create concepts — it builds trust, step by step.

Here’s the “trust logic” of the five-step FORTH innovation methodology:
	•	Full Steam Ahead builds strategic trust: “We agree where we go.”
	•	Observe & Learn builds customer trust: “We understand real frictions.”
	•	Raise Ideas builds creative trust: “We explored options properly.”
	•	Test Ideas builds market trust: “Customers validated what matters.”
	•	Homecoming builds internal trust: “Decision-makers can commit.”

Innovation Trust isn’t a slogan. It’s a logical sequence you need to create buy-in from everyone involded.

#FORTHInnovationMethod #AI #CorporateInnovation #InnovationStrategy #InnovationLeadership #ResponsibleAI

“A company that depends on a few heroic innovators is not innovative.
It is lucky.”

Real innovation isn’t a talent show.
It’s a system.

If ideas only survive because a few heroes fight the organisation, you don’t have an innovation culture — you have bottlenecks, burnout, and risk.

Innovative companies don’t bet on heroes.
They build repeatable ways for many people to innovate, every day.

Luck fades.
Systems scale.

Ps. Reach out to me when you would like some support.

#innovation
#innovationculture
#leadership
#management
#designthinking
#systemsthinking

Some people speak fast. Some people speak last. Some people speak forever. And some people… never get heard at all.

As a facilitator, your job is not to be the smartest voice in the room. Your job is to equalise influence.

Because innovation doesn’t fail due to lack of ideas. It fails because hierarchy, charisma, and noise dominate the room.

Techniques that actually work:
• Dot voting — quietly before discussion
• “Write first, then share”
• Round-robin — one sentence each
• “Let’s hear from someone who disagrees”

A world-class facilitator designs the conversation so that:
	•	introverts contribute
	•	juniors challenge seniors
	•	dissent is safe
	•	the best ideas win (not the loudest)

That is exactly what we train in the FORTH Innovation Facilitator Certification.

📍 Italy | June 2026
🎓 Learn how to lead innovation sessions that deliver real business impact
🌍 Used worldwide, available in 14 languages

👉 Link in the comments

#facilitation #innovation #leadership #FORTHmethod #designthinking #innovationmanagement #collectiveintelligence #strategy #Italy2026

Great to have Ryusuke Koyama, an amazing FORTH Innovation friend, a professor, and board member of the BMIA Japan, as my guest in Milano 🇮🇹🇯🇵🥳

What makes this extra special:
In Japan, there are now 90+ certified innovators actively applying the FORTH Innovation Method  in big corporations successfully to WEnnovate Japan 🇯🇵🚀

It’s inspiring to see how a shared innovation language connects people, cultures, and ambitions — from Tokyo to Milan.

Innovation truly travels when methods are practical, human-centered, and globally applicable. The FORTH methodology is now available in 14 languages.

Thank you, Ryusuke, for the great conversations and continued collaboration!

Ps. When you want to become a world class innovation facilitator yourself, check out our intensive training in Italy 🇮🇹 in June. Link in the comments 

#forthinnovationmethod #innovation #japan #Milano #BMIA #traininginnovation #italy

The biggest innovation bottleneck is confidence. So how you get it?

In 2026, your best (AI) ideas won’t be blocked by a lack of creativity. They’ll be blocked by a lack of confidence.

Confidence from the board.
Confidence from business leaders.
Confidence across the organisation.

That’s why I explain the FORTH Innovation Method to decision-makers in a very simple way:

FORTH doesn’t just generate innovation concepts — it builds confidence, step by step.

Here’s the confidence logic behind the five-step FORTH Innovation Method:

• Full Steam Ahead → Strategic confidence
“We agree on where we’re going — and why.”

• Observe & Learn → Customer confidence
“We understand real customer frictions, not opinions.”

• Raise Ideas → Creative confidence
“We explored the solution space thoroughly.”

• Test Ideas → Market confidence
“Customers validated what truly matters.”

• Homecoming → Decision confidence
“Leaders can commit without hesitation.”

Innovation confidence isn’t a soft concept.
It’s a logical sequence.

And if you skip a step, confidence erodes — especially in AI-driven innovation, where uncertainty is high and skepticism is natural.

👉 In 2026, the winners won’t be the companies with the boldest ideas.

👉 They’ll be the ones with the most confidence in how they innovate.

👉 Check out the FORTH map in the comments.

#FORTHInnovationMethod #CorporateInnovation #InnovationStrategy #InnovationLeadership #ResponsibleAI

Yes — you can double your innovation effectiveness.

Vision 2030 sets an extraordinary ambition for Saudi Arabia🇸🇦. Now the real challenge is execution — delivering innovation results consistently and at scale.

The next five years are decisive.
Not by working harder, but by working smarter, more structured, and more aligned with strategy.

I’m honored to be in Riyadh (Feb 1–5, 2026) to introduce the FORTH Innovation Method in Arabic — a proven methodology used worldwide to turn strategic ambition into concrete innovation outcomes.

📍 Public Keynote

Feb 1 | 7:00–9:00 pm
“How you can double your innovation effectiveness in Saudi Arabia”
👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/dE8C4cX4

🛠 Public Workshop

Feb 2 | 7:00–9:00 pm
“How to align innovation with strategy”
You will experience the FORTH method in practice and draft your own innovation assignment.
👉 Register here: https://gforms.app/fVm36Om

🎟 Seats are limited. Feel free to bring a colleague or client — just ask them to register as well.

For leaders, innovators, and transformation teams contributing to Vision 2030.

Let’s build excellence in innovation delivery in Saudi Arabia.

Hope to meet you in person,

Gijs van Wulfen
Founder, FORTH Innovation Method

I am coming to Brazil 🇧🇷 to help you to double your innovation effectiveness. Get on the VIP list here …

Innovation Catalyst & Author of Commanding Innovation. Leading Business Growth, Strategy, and Digital Transformation with ISO56001 and Data-Driven Insights for Sustainable Competitive Advantage.

View Alan Zettelmann, MBA, MBI, IMBB’s profile

The FORTH method is used by
companies across Europe, the U.S., and Asia.

Executives around the world learn to innovate through
this proven process.
In 2026, Brazil joins this global map.

👉 Gijs van Wulfen will come to the country for the
first time to lead an in-depth, in-person immersion —
limited to a select group of leaders.

If you want to be in the room where innovation stops
being a speech and becomes a system:

👉 The VIP List is now open.
Those who enter first, decide first.
https://lnkd.in/dGAU-Dec

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The Battle

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