In some settings groups are unable to reach consensus and decisions. If the exchange of ideas has stalled and if all point of views are clear, then change settings towards a cosy and warm atmosphere. Location: a normal meeting room ‘I don’t understand why you aren’t giving us the information!’ I had lost count [...]
Keith Sawyer is one of the world’s leading scholars on creativity. He is author of the bestseller ‘Group Genius’ that focusses on group creativity. He has just released his new book ‘Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity’ in which he shows that the creative process is not and should not be approached as [...]
Meetings do cost money. Definitely. And you can find numerous tools that help you calculate the costs of your meetings, such as TIM, Time = Money or many more downloadable apps on the internet. But what do these numbers really say? It only tells you how much money you invested in the meeting. And that [...]
The discussion heated up. I simply asked all participants, a management team, to take a stance by physically putting on a scale a coloured dot. For this growing organisation I was curious to know what the management wanted: more systemisation of processes on the one hand or more self-organisation and responsibilities on a lower level. [...]
‘I’m creative’ . Too often, I meet people that are unable to utter these 3 words. When they think of creative ideas, they’re never the source; when they think of creative persons, they leave themselves out of the equation. I was in the middle of a deep discussion with a former colleague about work, [...]
Alex Osterwalder is hot. He is co-author of the bestseller book ‘Business Model Generation’. The book inspired me as being one of the only books worth reading on business modelling. The model is simple, handy without being simplistic and it emphasizes the idea of testing and failing. Something I recognize from the field of organisational [...]
Finally there it is: my 7 minute presentation of ‘Creative and Engaging Meetings’ at the Creativity World Forum. Especially for all those who have voted for me but where not able to attend the Forum. And of course, also for all the other interested!
Ideas are just ideas. On itself, the value of an idea is nil. If you have a great idea but you don’t execute it, then nothing happens. The world just goes on as it went. And you’ve not made the change you wanted (did you really want to change the world or were you just [...]
Simple things are powerful. The title ‘Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite’ is one of those powerful simple things. To refresh the memory: it’s the title of a great little book by Paul Arden. It reads in about 15 minutes and puts a lot of your thoughts upside down. And my thought came to this [...]
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.
