Meet the team: Eva

Eva Maršálková – Project Manager

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Eva Maršálková, a Project Manager working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

We live in rapidly changing times and it’s important for organizations to adjust and contribute in a positive way so the discrepancy in the way people live will not become even greater. Minkowski’s mission, to give agency to individual people within organizations and change them from within is therefore a mission I fully embrace.

 

Question for the future: What is a lesson you had to learn the hard way in life?
When I was 17/18 I took the opportunity to play college tennis in the US on a full scholarship. I set it all up by myself and it felt like a great adventure. And it was. However, at 18, I underestimated the financial means I still needed (and had no way to get), how lonely I would feel at times (no regular contact with family and friends at home) and underestimated my physical preparation (leading to injury). This all unfolded during that year and I had to deal with it. It turned out to be one of the most valuable years of my life. I discovered:
  • to problem solve when things get rough,
  • that helping others can be a remedy,
  • what it means to really do your best.

It all resulted in the lesson my coach learned me and I still live by: “Who you are is what you do when nobody is watching.”

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

By having a conscious (and continuous) realization that every person has a story. This means: listen a bit longer and ask more, and preferably, to all kinds of people. You never know when someone else’s point of view or experience can add value or inspire new ideas.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Sarah

Sarah Jacobse – Program Support

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Sarah Jacobse, Minkowski’s program support!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

“In today’s quickly changing world staying focussed on the future is essential. Minkowski does this in an inspiring and unique way and helps create change that has impact. The people at Minkowski are strategic, creative and actionable all while staying enthusiastic and creating a great atmosphere. For me, the art of enabling and activating people through programs and trainings is inspiring and this makes a great fit for me at Minkowski.”

 

Question for the future: For your Master Strategic Design, you have lived in Denmark for a few months. What’s one valuable lesson you take away from this experience?

“Living and studying in Denmark has taught me many valuable lessons. The most valuable lesson is how people from different backgrounds can inspire and motivate each other, both in studying and daily life.

By studying courses in co-creation and innovation management, the importance of enabling people within companies to work together in interdisciplinary teams was often mentioned. Enabling these people to get creative, have fun and design together is where future design and innovation begins.”

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

“I believe we can make history by changing the future through working together! I think when people from different disciplines sit together, listen to each other and co-create, sustainable change can come to life. By taking small steps, together, we design the future.”

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Franka

Franka Rolvink Couzy – Leadership & Change

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Franka Rolvink Couzy, a Leadership & Change specialist working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

I like working with people who know how to surprise me every time by looking at an issue just a little differently. The colleagues at Minkowski can make the link to the future for any organization with creativity, intelligence and an unconventional mind.

 

Question for the future: What is the best decision you ever made?
Actually, any decision that made me do something totally new. In the beginning, change hurts a bit and is uncomfortable, but soon I see the benefit of being new. For example, I look back with pleasure on my time in journalism, but also embrace this phase of actively working with leaders and organizations to make a difference.

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

The future starts with the decisions you make today. By taking today’s decisions well-considered and with an open mind, I am aware of the implications they have for my future.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Niels

Niels Dengel – Team coaching

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Niels Dengel, a team coach working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

Minkowski has a special place in my life. Working with the people at Minkowski has truly broadened my vision. The aspiration of the founders with the metaphor of Hermann Minkowski’s work, translated into an evolving mission and hands on strategy, executed with talented and passionate people is inspiring and requires me to dig deeper into my own evolution.

 

Question for the future: What is the change you wish to see in your future?
I’ll answer this along the light cone of possibilities: My path has led me to where I am today. I am and always have been passionate about human behaviour and (tech) evolution in the information & knowledge society, hence my major of Information Studies and my thesis about knowledge sharing during my Communication Science studies at the University of Amsterdam. I have worked in Advertising and in Big Tech (Google), only to find out that Humans are the driving and braking force of change. At Minkowski we cover all aspects of transformatory change. Incredibly interesting matter through the paradigm of the humans involved. This is the change I wish to see in my future: That we increasingly spread the belief that change starts with ONE person with an idea, capable of igniting and infecting others to make it a movement…

 

How do you make history by changing the future?
My primal response to this question is that this sounds so overwhelming and frighteningly grand that I cannot answer it. It suffocates me like the universe does at times. But considering that I am a particle in that universe, and that one particle is all it takes to change the course of direction of other particles with an endless “exponential” magnitude, I make history by changing the future every day with the people of the companies I work with and for.  I trust the universe that large change can only take place when small change occurs.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Femke

 Femke Deckers – Creative Facilitator

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Femke Deckers, a creativity facilitator working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

Minkowski feels like a warm bath. They are future-oriented and see human growth as a core factor of success. I love the optimistic vibe!

 

Question for the future: What is the most surprising fact you’ve learnt about yourself?
That life always offers possibilities! In 2013 I was confronted with my biggest fear: maybe never to walk again. I was forced to reinvent myself. As a creativity professional I knew all the theory, but how I had to apply this to my own life. I was forced to embrace uncertainty, change my perspective, experiment with new behavior and re-imagine a different future. The result? Instead of labeling my body as a problem, I turned it into the source of inspiration for my (creative) business! The result of this journey is my book ‘Unscrew Yourself’ and a stage performance called ‘The Power of a Creative Mindset’. I share the different phases of change and how to push through obstacles in each phase. Because ultimately, change is necessary in life and business!

 

How do you make history by changing the future?
How do I make history by changing the future? Well, first of all I wish for the Netherlands to be the most creative country in the world, ha! Creativity will help to reconnect with our hearts, deal with life and help us to come up with new ideas for a better future. I’m offering tools, skills and heart-felt inspiration so that we can open the door to a world of new possibilities!

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Herman

 Herman Weeda – Visual Facilitation

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Herman Weeda, a visual facilitator working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

Minkowski and I share the same view about how to help organisations with transition: don’t be the hero, but the guide. Enable people within the organisation to develop their own world view with the necessary skills to work on it.

 

Question for the future: What is the “why” that guides your life?
I would see a future where organisations take their responsibility for a liveable planet by default and where we’ve developed an economy that’s not based on growth for the sake of growth, but on creating value within our planetary boundaries.

 

How do you make history by changing the future?
By enabling change makers to imagine their desired futures.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Hajo

 Hajo van Beijma – People Development

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Hajo van Beijma, a people & talent consultant working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

Minkowski’s mission to create a million Einsteins can only be achieved with an amazing team and an active and big community. My passion is connecting people. I think that the more connections we make between people who are like minded and not in our direct ecosystem, the better ideas we make. We can learn a lot from each other and can create very impactful projects. Connecting diverse groups of people internationally is what drives me.

 

Question for the future: What is the “why” that guides your life?

I want to help tech driven organizations to help create more diverse teams. A lot of the tech driven companies in the Netherlands are looking a lot at candidates that are born and raised in the Netherlands and speak Dutch. I think that if we were to broaden that, it would give us a lot of growth with regards to the start-ups and scale-ups that we have. I want to change that, that’s my Why.

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

I will help change the future by creating more diverse teams within organizations such as Minkowski. More diverse teams are not just based on a good male/female distribution but on many levels. Not just because it’s cool but because there is a big business angle to it. More diverse teams are able to build better companies and products. In the end, diversity is a sound business decision.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Chef Erling

Chef Erling – Culinary Chef

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Chef Erling, a culinary chef working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

In a constant growing and changing world there is always a need for a new approach for development. Minkowski plays an important role in guiding leaders who are ready to take on the future. You can understand that these programs are challenging and intense, in order to get the most out of the participants it is our task to fuel the leaders with the right energy and in my case that is through food. Not only is food something we consume, but it is a beautiful tool to connect with ourselves and each other. It is our mission to share and care. Minkowksi understands this and gives us the freedom to do so and involves this important primary need within their inspiring programs.

 

Question for the future: What experience changed the way you look at food, and why?

During a lifetime the average person eats 89,790 meals which is about 35 tons of food. The impact of our food habits are immense, it not only affects our wellbeing but also the ecosystem and our future. As of today, we as a society have gained valuable insight to proven facts and research about the importance of food. All this knowledge will go to waste if not applied to ourselves.

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

I intend to write history by cooking the right ingredients, to enrich people’s lives from a nutritional point of view, giving them the right energy and balance to go into the future.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Céline

Céline Janssen – Opera Innovator

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Céline Janssen, an Opera Innovator working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

For me Minkowski is: innovative, future-oriented, thinking out of the box and open to creativity and new ideas. This is in line with my vision as Opera Innovator. I am always developing new forms of opera. It’s very interesting to see how show business resembles the corporate world. These worlds may seem different, but it becomes really interesting when you put these 2 worlds side by side: auditioning is just like an application or a pitch; getting out of your comfort zone, discovering what your specialties are, but also what your pitfalls are.

In the opera world you always have a role, how do you ensure that your voice fits within the whole production? Also look at the role of the conductor, a leading role, the conductor always conducts a measure too early. He conducts something that is yet to come. So a conductor must always look one step ahead… Recognizable?

 

Question for the future: What experience changed the course of your life, and why?

I can clearly remember the moment when my theatrical side came out. I was 6 years old and was with my parents at the musical Beauty and the Beast. There’s a scene in that musical that has always stayed with me, like a kind of trauma… The moment the beast falls off the balustrade and lies there on the ground and Belle rushes at him and tries to revive him…I was completely hyperventilating. And then a huge cry followed. And so I was already sent out of the theater at the age of 6. My parents asked me ‘what’s going on?’ To which I said: what’s going on? All the drama of both Beauty and the Beast I felt times 10.. like I was experiencing it myself! Then it was clear to everyone once and for all… the drama queen in me had made herself known!

I did Gymnasium and even a year of Law School, but the theater world has always attracted me. Luckily I auditioned successfully for the Conservatory and that was the best decision of my life!

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

Opera is history, it is one of the oldest forms of music. My goal is that opera, just like before, is by and for everyone. And at the same time attracting a new audience. For example: I often sing O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, a song written in 1900. But it was, at first, also meant for the public from 1900. Of course some things or songs are timeless, but to attract a new audience and to keep surprising the opera fans, it is good to look ahead. That can be done by sometimes a small or a large adjustment. We learn from history, we learn to look further. Now it’s up to you.

For me it’s important to see what you can get out of something and still bring innovation. So, why not combine opera, classical singing, with rock or pop? With a song from this age, everybody knows, so that everyone can sing along? Not an opera-song with lyrics from 200 years ago, but a song from this age. For me, opera is way more of a cross-over form. I love to sing Queen’s Who Wants To Live Forever, Adele’s Skyfall, Hazes’ Bloed, Zweet en Tranen or ACDC’s Highway to Hell in opera-form! Or sing a traditional opera aria, but with adjustments appropriate to this time… Opera per tutti !

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.

Meet the team: Kim

Kim Durieux – Creative Change

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members and experts, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future! This time we will introduce you to Kim Durieux, an expert in Creative Change working with Minkowski!

 

Why do you work with Minkowski?

I believe there are many ways to make the world a better place – all in different sizes and shapes, and all with a different impact. One way to do so is helping the larger companies that have a legacy to deal with getting ready for a new, better future. One that is more durable than the world we live in now. I love being part of that movement together with Minkowski! And also very important to me: the Minkowski team is one you want to work with – smart, sharp and fun people.

 

Question for the future: are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

I’m mostly concerned about doing the right things. If it’s the right thing to do, with the right goal in mind, it doesn’t matter whether you make mistakes: you’ll be on the right track. A beautiful example is the question whether we want to focus on decreasing our CO2 emission or on regenerating our soil across the globe. I believe both are important but also that the latter deserves a higher priority. Once we choose to work on healthy soil, with all its benefits, it doesn’t matter if we learn that we planted the wrong combination of trees this year – you can make up for it next spring. You’re learning and you get better at regeneration every year! I’d recommend every single person to watch these two beautiful documentaries: ‘Kiss the Ground’ and ‘The biggest little farm’. At the moment, one of the right things to do involves working on futures projects with Minkowski, but who knows – perhaps one day I’ll be regenerating soil on my own farm.

 

How do you make history by changing the future?

My mission is to change our impact, one decision at a time. This could be impact on your business, on your mental state, your neighbour, on the Earth – we decide what impact we make. One of the many ways for me to do so is to partner with Minkowski and join in on creating a million Einsteins to get organizations moving towards better futures.

 

Do you want to know more about our team? Check about us.