FORTH Innovation Institute

Do you need to reinvent your business and create a culture for innovation in response to these dramatic times of change? I inspire you with my speeches, workshops and innovation methods, in a practical way, both 100% online and offline. I am honoured to be chosen by LinkedIn as Influencer on innovation, and I like to thank all of my 330.000+ followers.

Founder of the FORTH Innovation Institute and FORTH innovation methodology

Breaking Innovation Barriers

Author of 7 books on DesignThinking & Innovation f.e. Breaking Innovation Barriers (2024)

Future-Fit Manifesto

Charter member of this highly-regarded, highly-impactful, and very forward-looking think tank.

On the Twentieth Anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, we collectively crafted "The Future Fit Manifesto" - a manifesto that charges organizations with proactively shaping their futures, not simply reacting to the future as it unfolds - a recipe that no longer works given the pace of technological change we are witnessing.

This think tank will constantly champion the cause of the Future Fit / Future Ready organization - organizations capable of remaining relevant to the world of today, while also resilient to the ongoing sea of change happening all about us. These are the organizations who will still be creating tremendous value - not years, not decades, but centuries from now.

Contributing Author

Global Speaker, Trainer and Author on Innovation

Gijs van Wulfen is a recognised authority and keynote speaker on innovation and Design Thinking. He is an illustrative lyrical storyteller with an articulate informal style, which is full of humor, entertainment and insight.

He has been keynoting for companies like NEC (Japan), 3M (USA), AIRBUS Group (France), ENZEN (India) and BIlfinger (Netherlands). He's a regular speaker at big innovation conferences like 'The South African Innovation Summit, 'The Turkish Innovation Week', 'The Polish Innovation Day' and 'The 3rd Innovation Forum' in Porto Alegre (Brazil). Movies and reviews of his performances you find at gijsvanwulfen.com

Global online & 'live' speaker on Innovation (gijsvanwulfen.com)

FORTH Innovation Method

Gijs is the founder of the FORTH innovation method and help organisations to jump start innovation by facilitating this effective method. It helps them creating a culture for innovation. His clients are both companies in industry and services and non profit organisations looking for innovative products, - services, business models or new markets. His focus is on new product development, new service development, innovation strategy and innovation management. He works all over the globe.

Founder FORTH Innovation Method

Boer & Croon

Associate Partner

Ernst & Young Consulting

Management -, Marketing and Innovation Consulting

Executive consultant

CSM (Honig, Red Band Venco)

Group Product Manager

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.

How can you grow innovation in an organisation that is tired and overloaded?

No! Not by launching yet another innovation programme.

Tired teams don’t need more. They need different.

Here are 5 things to do:

1. Kill before you create

You can’t grow innovation on top of a full plate.
Make a stop list before a to-do list: which meetings, reports, projects and rituals will you end to free up energy for new ideas?

2. Protect small islands of focus time

Innovation dies in back-to-back calendars.
Block fixed “no meeting” slots or a monthly sprint where teams can work on one opportunity without interruptions. Guard this time like you guard client deadlines.

3. Shrink the ambition, speed up the learning

Overloaded people fear “big transformation”.
Instead, ask for tiny experiments: 1 idea, 1 customer segment, 1 simple test within 2–4 weeks. The goal is learning, not a perfect business case.

4. Change leadership behaviour, not posters

Culture follows what leaders do on Monday morning. Leaders should ask: “What did we learn?” more often than “Did we hit the numbers?” and publicly reward smart experiments, even when they don’t “win”.

5. Make progress visible and human

Tired organisations often are moving… they just can’t see it. Create a simple “innovation wall” (physical or digital) showing ideas, tests, and outcomes. Celebrate small wins with names and faces, not just dashboards.

Innovation culture doesn’t start with energy.
It starts with permission, space and small, real progress – especially when everyone is tired.

#innovation #innovationculture #leadership #change #futureofwork #organisationaldevelopment

Gijsbertus J.J. van Wulfen

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

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All ready to rock & roll on stage 🎤


Thrilled to be speaking today at the TOP seminar in Belgium 🇧🇪(ICC Gent) – sharing the key insights from my latest book “Breaking Innovation Barriers”.

I’ll be taking the audience on a journey through 15 practical strategies to win management buy-in, remove internal roadblocks and finally get innovation moving instead of stuck in PowerPoints.

Innovation isn’t just about big ideas.
It’s about getting decision-makers on board, building momentum and delivering real impact. That’s exactly what I’ll be talking about on stage today.

If your organisation is struggling with:
	•	endless discussions but no decisions
	•	risk-averse leaders
	•	ideas that never reach the market

…then Breaking Innovation Barriers – and my keynotes & workshops – are designed for you.

👉 Interested in having me speak at your next event or run an in-company innovation journey?

Send me a message – let’s make your next innovation project the one that actually breaks through.

#BreakingInnovationBarriers #innovation #keynotespeaker #TOPseminar #leadership #strategy #corporateinnovation #changemanagement #GijsVanWulfen

“Innovation is a battlefield.” ⚔️

Every day, innovators step into the unknown, face resistance, and keep going anyway. This short movie is a salute to everyone who dares to challenge the status quo, needs to play political fames, and fight for better ideas, better products and a better future.

#innovation #innovator #gijsvanwulfen #speaker #motivationalspeaker #movie

How do you become a world-class innovation facilitator in just 6 days? 

By joining me in Italy 🇮🇹, June 7–12, 2026.

I’m hosting a small, intimate FORTH Innovation Method Certification Training (max. ~12 participants) at Cascina Caremma, an authentic organic farm just south of Milan. Six intense days, in English, working on a real innovation challenge – and you’ll be facilitating from the start.  

You will learn how to:
	•	Apply the FORTH innovation method – a proven approach that doubles innovation effectiveness compared to regular stage-gate processes.
	•	Facilitate hybrid innovation journeys: in-person workshops combined with online collaboration on MIRO.
	•	Move from fuzzy front end to validated concepts that your organisation (or clients) can actually implement.
	•	Boost your personal facilitation skills and confidence with a diverse international group.
	•	Enjoy an unforgettable culinary Italian week – all breakfasts, lunches and dinners together, creating a true community of innovators.

And yes, you’ll go home as a certified FORTH Innovation Facilitator – with access to the digital toolbox and our global community.

🎄 Early bird Christmas offer
Register before Christmas and you’ll get 10% discount on the training fee.

If you’re:
	•	an innovation manager or project leader
	•	a consultant or facilitator
	•	or simply the one who always pushes for new ideas…

…then this week in Italy might be a turning point in your career.

👉 Interested? Comment FORTH or send me a DM and I’ll share the brochure & registration details.

#FORTHInnovation #InnovationFacilitation #DesignThinking #InnovationLeadership #InnovationTraining #HybridWorkshops #Creativity #Italy2026

“Innovators should understand top managers BEFORE they start…”

In this short movie I share why stepping into the shoes of your board and senior leaders is the crucial first step for any innovation journey. 

When you understand their pressures, language and priorities, your ideas have a much better chance of getting real backing — and making real impact.

#innovation #innovator #gijsvanwulfen #speaker #motivationalspeaker #movie

On my way from Milano 🇮🇹 to Ghent 🇧🇪

Excited to be one of the speakers at the UNIZO  TOPseminar in Ghent, where I’ll be sharing my experience as an innovation strategist, author and keynote speaker.

Over the years I’ve helped many organisations turn fuzzy ideas into concrete innovation results with the FORTH Innovation Method – a structured way to move from insight to validated new concepts.

In my session I’ll talk about:
	•	How to overcome internal resistance to innovation
	•	How SMEs can innovate without big budgets
	•	Practical tools you can apply the next day in your business

If you’re joining the UNIZO TOPseminar, I’d love to meet you, hear your challenges, and exchange ideas on how to make innovation really work for you. 👋

#UNIZOTOPseminar #innovation #keynotespeaker #entrepreneurship #SME #Ghent #Milano

Do you know the main reason WHY innovation gets killed …

It’s not bad ideas.
It’s NO MANAGEMENT SUPPORT – in 52% of all cases.

Too many great concepts die quietly in PowerPoints and pilots because leaders:
	•	Don’t feel ownership
	•	Don’t see the business case
	•	Don’t trust the team (yet)
	•	Or are simply too busy with “today” to invest in “tomorrow”

👉 That’s why getting – and keeping – management buy-in should be your priority number one as an innovator.

I’ve just released my latest book “Breaking Innovation Barriers” with 15 practical strategies to win management support and become a truly impactful innovator.

If you want your next innovation not just to start, but to survive and scale, this book is for you.
🔗 Link in the comments

#innovation #breakinginnovationbarriers #leadership #management #corporateinnovation #changemanagement #designthinking #strategy

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