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Everyone laughed at his vacuum cleaner; now Dyson is a billionaire He’s been called the “Steve Jobs of home appliances.” And just like Jobs, James Dyson was rejected at every turn. A bagless vacuum cleaner? “Completely ridiculous,” thought the established manufacturers. But Dyson wasn’t discouraged—and he proved them wrong. What entrepreneurs can learn from this

Astrid Holleeder found herself in the clutches of AI, and you are, unknowingly, too After years of isolation, Astrid Holleeder sought solace in ChatGPT. The AI ​​chatbot became her confidante, until it became too scary. Her experience is no exception: research shows that ChatGPT users feel lonelier, writes innovation expert Simone van Neerven. I know

We make fun of the ludicrous ‘sunbed-wars’, but at the office we are no different Hotel guests fighting over a sunbed by the pool: we are quick to condemn such behaviour. But at the office, we do exactly the same, observes innovation expert Simone van Neerven. Asking for too much budget out of fear, claiming

Without these women, we probably would never have heard of Einstein Worldwide, Albert Einstein is celebrated as a genius, but his success was partly due to brilliant women. His story illustrates that innovation is rarely a solo effort but thrives on collaboration, writes innovation expert Simone van Neerven. Iconic photo On March 14, 1951, Albert

Leaving isn’t quitting, it’s evolving. Here are ten signs it is time to go Every day, you drag yourself to the office, feeling out of place and seeing no way out. Your career is at a standstill while frustration is mounting. Do you recognise these warning signs? Then it’s time to write your resignation letter.

Often, the impossible is possible as long as you don’t know it cannot be done A clerk in the U.S. Navy was given an impossible task: design a naval ship in a month. She did it in less than nineteen hours. Her story reveals a problem that every company has, writes innovation expert Simone van

Innovating healthcare? Simple! Embrace your rebellious nurses Sometimes, you must break the rules to achieve better results or… to save a life. That’s precisely what nurse Gayle Kasparian learned when she put two premature twin sisters together in an incubator against protocol. The healthcare sector needs to give such rebel nurses more space, argues innovation

4 simple questions that will make any team more creative In 2023, the Barbie movie soared to box office success, despite nearly being rejected by management. There are lessons to be learned from this story about encouraging creative thinking, says innovation expert Simone van Neerven. Four simple questions can free your team from mediocrity –

One simple question can prevent opportunism from having a devastating domino effect When millions of vultures vanished in India, a 32 billion euro economic disaster followed and hundreds of thousands of people died. We see the same fatal error that caused this disaster daily in Dutch boardrooms, writes innovation expert Simone van Neerven. Disastrous health

8 impossible types at work and their priceless value (you’ll only see it when you get it – johan cruijff) We all know them: that one colleague who says ‘yes, but’ to everything, or that know-it-all who always wants to be right. Annoying? Definitely. But these ‘difficult’ types can be indispensable to your team, writes

Beware of the autopilot: What every manager can learn from crashed flight AF447 Philips was once the world champion in consumer electronics until the company started to drift off. This ‘complacency effect’ caused Air France flight 447 to crash and bank ING to receive a mega fine. ‘Unfortunately, managers all too often have the idea

Why do we stick to one rule while happily breaking another? Rules provide structure, safety and clarity. Yet, sometimes people choose to break them out of conviction or necessity, or simply because the rules seem nonsensical. Innovation expert Simone van Neerven wonders what drives us to follow one rule but ignore another. Crime scene investigation

The coolest entrepreneur in the Netherlands? Surprisingly, almost nobody knows her She saved Jewish people in hiding, refused to work for the Nazis and was way ahead of her time with personnel policy. Yet Lili Bleeker ended up in an unmarked grave, writes columnist Simone van Neerven. This is the extraordinary story of a brilliant