Meet the team: Cato

Cato Verhaart – Brand Builder

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, 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 our Brand Builder, Cato Verhaart!

Why do you work at Minkowski?

Minkowski was exactly the right fit at the right time. I was looking for a new challenge and there it was; a job opening at Minkowski! After having some conversations I knew that Minkowski was what I was looking for: an environment where people share more than just work, while challenging each other to be on top of their game. I felt a deep connection immediately to the personal and creative approach, which enables others to bring out their best selves. Maybe building better futures, starts with building Minkowski. 😉

Question for the future: What is the most important lesson you have learned so far in life?

That there is always something to learn if you look for it. I believe that everyone is unique, and there is always something that you can learn from one another. Although sometimes it is challenging, I’d like to think that I am open to that. Or at least, I’m aiming to be!

How do you make history by changing the future?

For me, it is in the details of life that fills my heart. Consequently, that is what I try to do for others as much as I can. I try to really listen to someone; what they have to say, how their day went, or what they are up to. Then, going the extra mile to remember and act on those little things, the details that make it personal, is what I love most.

For example: think of me as that person who puts everything in their agenda to (try to) remember the small and big stuff of others – an important presentation someone has been dreading, a weekend away with the family, or someone’s holiday – so I can always wish good luck, have fun, or ask how it was after. Just show actual interest. I believe that this helps me to connect to people, people to me, and hopefully people to people – if I can manage to pass it on. If that is how I can leave a mark in this world, you won’t hear me complaining.

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

Meet the team: Sara

Sara Horvath – Program Manager

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This time we will introduce you to our Program Manager, Sara Horvath!

Why do you work at Minkowski?

The purpose, the tone of voice , the story and even the logo of Minkowski attracted me! In 3 words: innovation, creativity and the co-creation methodology.

Question for the future: What is your “North Star” and sets your life’s course?

I am a big admirer of buddhism and of its core foundation that everything is (inter)connected. We form a big ecosystem with nature and all beings, and these energies influence each other. Everything is in motion and the art of mindfullness is learning to live and cherish the present moment. I am trying to live like this, being grateful for what I have and the present, respect my surroundings at all times, practice inner-balance and harmony and accept that there will always be some kind of suffering. I am not there yet but practice makes the master, right?

How do you make history by changing the future?

By enabling and accompanying Einsteins around me: at Minkowski within the team, at our clients and even at home by raising one 🙂 but it all starts with myself: continous learning, self reflection and remain flexible to change. I believe that every decision has some kind of effect and also consequence(s). To me, this means that everything that we are doing in the present moment is influencing and defining our tomorrow. The art is to make the right choices by balancing between my intuition and my rational reasoning.

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

Meet the team: Erik

Erik Kepper – Head of Strategy & Organization Development

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This time we will introduce you to our head of Strategy & Organization Development, Erik Kepper!

Why do you work at Minkowski?

For many reasons. Sometimes you have a click that you cannot well define. Be futures (yes plural!) ready is like honey for a vision-oriented strategic creative. But the human focussed strategy approach appealed especially to me. After many years of practical innovation and experience in the change business I firmly believe  that magic lies for maybe 20% in a strategic plan and 80% in people. Like Minkowski states: ‘organizations don’t create the future. People do!’. So, I would love to be of real value for our clients by functioning as a professional outsider and by turning my creative, strategical, observational and challenger skills into use. Moreover, I always look at three checkboxes when considering working  with a company. Great people, Great work, Great place? Minkowski gets  a big fat YES  to all three!

Question for the future: What core beliefs and fundamental principles guide your life?

There is always so much more that we don’t know! So be curious, humble, open to  new truths and always realize that we all see the world through our own lenses. Next to this I try to find my ‘flow’ as much as possible. Flow is the state where you operate with all that you have in the present. To reach this state you have to find your ‘why’.  To follow a destination that is truly yours. That makes it a lifetime achievement to really become who you are. This applies to people personally as well as organizations. Make meaning and focus the essence of  your journey. Don’t be caught up by all the little  distractions. 

How do you make history by changing the future?

While I am writing this my initial thoughts on it already lie behind me. A super short piece of history. For me that means that we can make history (how small it might be) every day by just starting on something that you really want for the long term. Like Minkowski I also believe that there is not one future. There are many possible ones. That might be a reason for people and organizations to stop and freeze. I hope to help organizations and their people to find  their authentic’ why’ that makes them uncomfortably excited and then make a mantra  of the phrase: ‘if it scares you it might be worth the try’!

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

Meet the team: Sara

Sara Sitton – Leadership Development

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This time we will introduce you to our program facilitator, Sara Sitton!

Why do you work at Minkowski?

I am partnering up with Minkowski because I love their creativity and experience!
Together we bring a unique skillset to design and facilitate innovative Leadership programs. From applied Futures thinking all the way to an Engagement Plan to get the people on board and reach results.

Question for the future: “What learning would you like to share with others?” 

At Minkowski they speak about ‘futures’… not one, but multiple! This question inspired me: “What new word did you come across recently that opened a new way of thinking for you?”

How do you make history by changing the future?

Ha! I wish I would make history. I design leadership programs with a strong focus on people and innovation. If I help companies increase their people engagement and ways to see how they can impact the future(s) positively, I smile.

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

Meet the team: Willemijn Maria

Willemijn Maria de Beer  – Program Manager

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This time we will introduce you to our program manager, Willemijn Maria!

Why do you work at Minkowski?

Minkowski is a young, enthusiastic, progressive and open-minded team where I feel completely at home. I love to plan, organize and arrange things, and I can really express myself in Minkowski’s projects. I am given the opportunity to take on responsibility and my own input on how to organize projects is greatly appreciated. Furthermore, the Minkowski team is always there for me when I need help. 

Question for the future: “Do you have a morning/evening ritual? How do you start/end your day?”

During my working day, I have a lot of contact with different people through different communication channels. I like the dynamics and the variety in my work. But to “de-stress”, it has become almost necessary to do yoga and meditation in the evening. Meditation and yoga bring me back to my center, help me release tension and calm my mind. I repeat the same ritual in the morning. This daily ritual supports me to be in contact and work with other people from a state of calmness where I experience that I can be of so much more value and do my work more efficiently and with more pleasure. How do you end (or begin) your day?

How do you make history by changing the future?

I believe that you can write a piece of history every day. It is in the smallest things. Your energy is there even before you start talking. “See the good in everything!”. No matter how your day goes, whether it goes according to plan or whether you end up in total chaos. You always have the choice how to deal with it, how to react to it, do you get annoyed and do you want to control everything? Or can you let go and from an open mind and heart “see the good in everything”? We cannot control the future, it comes as it comes, but we can choose how we deal with it and write history from there. 

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

Meet the team: Charlotte

Charlotte van Veelen  – Program & Experience Manager

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This time we will introduce you to our one and only program & experience manager, Charlotte van Veelen!

Why did you join Minkowski?

After my masters, I found it difficult to decide what direction I wanted to move into. I didn’t see myself working for a big corporate with a learning curve set in stone. I found it more important to find an organization that shared my beliefs and values. Somewhere I could learn at my own pace. This is where Minkowski came in! I was given the opportunity to explore and learn about what I wanted to contribute to the team, while working on very cool and impactful programs. And it’s just that; being able to spend your time and energy on building impactful programs with a purpose you truly believe in, is what makes working here so meaningful. 

Question for the future: “If you could be the CEO of an existing company, what would it be and what would you change?.” 

I think the power to change lies in the shared knowledge of big corporates, governmental institutions, NGO’s and universities.  But we might be lacking courage, vision, and collaboration to fully utilize this potential. The famous Shell argument “If we don’t do it, someone else will”, shows how uninspired and scared of the unknown we can be as humans. Anyway, if someone has to drag a Shell or KLM out of their limiting beliefs and into a future direction, I guess I’ll volunteer? 😉 

How do you make history by changing the future?

Making history by changing the future starts by finding your personal motivation to drive change – how big or small that may be. What I hope to contribute to this through Minkowski is making sure our programs are designed in such a way that participants really live through our programs and experience individually as well as together how they are a part of shaping the futures. Hopefully that triggers something in each individual to drive the change they wish to see. 

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

Meet the team: Stijn

Stijn van Erp  – Program Facilitator

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that month! This week we will introduce you to one of our program facilitators, Stijn van Erp!

Why did you join Minkowski?

As an industrial designer by study, I am fascinated in creating meaningful solutions to pressing challenges.  The process of spotting an opportunity and using the imagination to translate it into something meaningful is a thrilling one. I saw an amazing opportunity at Minkowski to do exactly that: enabling organizations to create better future(s) – yes, plural indeed – to challenge assumptions, to let them look at the future from another perspective and to create history by changing the future.

Question for the future : “As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up – and how does it compare to your current career?”

At around the age of 10, I dreamt of becoming a car designer. I was always busy sketching cars, at home and at school, and even ‘founded‘ my own brand. Together with classmates, who ‘joined’ my company we designed a portfolio of cars. I guess this is where I developed my entrepreneurial spirit. Though I’ve never studied to become a car designer, design itself remained very close to my heart. At Minkowski, I apply this entrepreneurial designers mindset to not design cars, but help organizations design better future(s).

How do you make history by changing the future?

By challenging the assumptions of myself and others, by looking outside to what makes people – or society at large for that matter – tick, and by always being optimistic and seeing opportunity in change.

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

Meet the team: Cathalijne

Cathalijne Bol-Oudijk – Leadership Development

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that week! We start off with our Leadership Development coach, Cathalijne Bol-Oudijk!

Why did you join Minkowski?

I like to work with people who want to make a positive impact on the world around them. Also, I found the energy around here really refreshing and welcoming at the same time. I love how we co-create programs that help leaders see themselves, others and the world around them through different eyes and empower them to take conscious actions and transform into something better.

Question for the future : “Cross-cultural encounters can be an opportunity for personal growth. What is the biggest lesson you have learned from other cultures?”

I’ve worked with many multi-cultural teams in my career and the diversity of perspectives coming from all these different backgrounds often left me speechless. I’ve learned it is a humbling, enriching, mind opening (and blowing!) experience to listen to others who have a different story from your own…and yet…we all speak the same language: the language of the heart.

How do you make history by changing the future?

The future is not what happens to us. The future is what we do with what happens to us. I hope to change the future by offering people a better understanding of themselves and others and transform the way they act. 

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

Meet the team: Alexandre

Alexandre Janssen – Head of Engagement & co-founder Minkowski

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that week! We continue with our Head of Engagement and Co-Founder of Minkowski, Alexandre Janssen!

Why did you join Minkowski?

“When I first met my partner Jörgen who founded Minkowski in 2017, we saw an opportunity to join forces in order to grow the organization and accelerate our mission; creating one million Einsteins within organizations to create better futures.

I love the challenge to build an organization that is bigger than just the two of us, and since I joined in 2018, we have been able to grow Minkowski to where we are now; a great team of people working on client programs as well as on Minkowski as an organization itself. “

Question for the Future: What advice would you give your younger self if you were to make an important decision that would affect your futures?

“Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions due to the unknown situation that lies ahead. But unknown situations also create excitement; if everything was known upfront there would be no fun in life.  Hence, I would say to myself; be open to unknown situations, don’t try to control everything, challenge your own assumptions, explore the different paths ahead, but most importantly, one you’ve made your choice, believe in it, stick with it and focus!”

How do you make history by changing the future?

“Almost nobody knows Hermann Minkowski, but everyone knows Albert Einstein. That is exactly what our philosophy entails. It’s not about us, it’s about the people we reach in our programs and how we can help them change little (or big) things that drive change for the better in the organization they work for.”

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

Meet the team: Jörgen

Jörgen van der Sloot – Head of Futures & Founder Minkowski

In this series of “Meet the team” we will introduce you to all our team members, one by one. This is done by asking a standard set of questions, including the Question for the Future of that week! We start off with our Head of Futures and Founder of Minkowski, Jörgen van der Sloot!

Why did you start Minkowski?

“I started Minkowski as an alternative to traditional consultancy. I’ve always felt that those models lacked the activation of futures thinking in organizations. Very often the strategy deck disappears in a drawer somewhere or it relies on contracting these outside consultants to get to execution. But the problem with that, is that as soon as the consultants leave, the plans die. I believe that you actively have to involve the people in an organization all the way. Strategy should be a co-creative, everyday experience. That is usually a messy, inefficient process, but it is highly effective in making change happen. Minkowski is built on the principles of co-creation and helps people inside organizations to move from best practice to next practice and apply the future to today.”

Question for the Future: We have less than 2847 days left to 2030, what will you change tomorrow to create better futures?

“I feel it is a daunting task when you think of it. I have solar panels, I bike more than I drive, I recycle waste. But all of that always feels like it is too small to really be impactful. So, I have had quite an extensive period where I felt that what I did really didn’t matter; but of course that didn’t help at all. So I focus on the small things that I do every day. I do this with a belief that altering those small things will eventually lead to a better future. One thing that we have applied in our household is that we now use ‘traditional soap bars’ instead of using shower lotion from plastic bottles. It seems small, but it has proven to be an ‘easy adjustment’ to my daily routine.”

How do you make history by changing the future?

“Personally, I don’t think I am the guy that is making history. In fact, my ambition is to help as many others do that as I possibly can. So, what I do in the programs that we facilitate is to focus on at least one participant. If I can help her/him change something small, then I think I’m contributing to making history (even though I will never be known for it…and that is the way it should be).”

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