‘If collaboration is cool, if cross-functional working is so amazing, why do we build these huge hierarchies?’ That’s Eddie Obeng talking, in his great TED-talk ‘Smart failure for a fast-changing world’. He claims that the rules of the game have drastically changed in our 21st century. Our main problem, as humanity, is that we […]
In Aesop’s fable of the Tortoise and the Hare both animals set of for a race. Tortoise, tired of hearing Hare boasting his speed, challenges him. All the animals of the forest gather to watch. Hare is fast to run down the road and after a while looks over his shoulder. Noticing that Tortoise is […]
Innovation is neither simple nor easy. When I look at the organisations I work with I see them struggling with their innovation endeavour. By definition innovation is fuzzy in the ‘where’ (where are we going?) and in the ‘how’ (how are we going to make this happen?), and that at the same time. So […]
I am on my way back from Kyrgyzstan where I facilitated a 3-day conference. Kyrgyzstan (for those of you who don’t know) is a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia. Hence, it’s one of those countries where the state ruled and intervened in all aspects of individual lives of its citizens. And though the Soviet […]
‘Our meeting rooms fit a maximum of 8 participants.’ I was being guided through the new headquarters of a major bank. Of course the design of the brand new offices showed the decency and the wealth you may expect from a conservative institution as a bank. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot […]
Cyriel Kortleven is a much sough-after speaker at conferences and meetings. Through is enthusiastic and playful attitude to life, he creates an open and informal atmosphere. ‘Less is Beautiful’ is his fourth book in which he invites professionals to look for ways to gain more with less efforts. I met Cyriel several times and every […]
Most meetings are an energy drain. Everyone working for or with a big organisation knows that. So I often get clients that would like to see their meetings improved. – Why do you want to improve your meetings? – Well, says the client, I’d love to see people engaging in the topic instead of […]
Since Zappos decided to turn into a holacracy, we definitely have a hype around boss free companies. Not that ‘boss free’ companies are new, but that a well-known brand and big company is taking up the challenge is definitely worth noticing. ‘Boss free’ is an answer to the problems of bureaucracy, which in the […]
Richard Hames is a corporate philosopher and knowledge designer. He is one of the most influential strategic foresight practitioners currently around. I had the chance to experience Richard’s wit, intelligence and sharpness in projecting the future of our world and its consequences for society, business and government. Richard is an acclaimed writer and speaker and […]
Meetings are all about communication. Without communication, the meeting would cease to exist. The word ‘communication’ has a Latin origin of which the root is mun- (not uni-). The Latin munus has to do with gifts or duties offered publicly. In ancient Rome, the communicatio generally involved tangible goods. The word has then evolved […]
About you
You're leading a team. And you hold meetings; regular ones, occasional ones.
Meetings consume valuable time so you want to get the most out of them. You want them to energize the participants, develop your team and help you achieve your change or innovation.
About Ruben
I'm Ruben van der Laan and I'm here to make your team flow.
I coach, (re)design and lead your meetings unleashing creativity, building teams and organising expediency.
