The document discusses the importance of creative leadership and innovation in education amidst a complex and rapidly changing world. It emphasizes the need for new solutions to societal challenges and the blending of public, private, and social sectors to address issues like sustainability and demographic shifts. Additionally, it outlines principles for leadership development and the role of experiential learning in fostering impactful leaders.

1. Innovative solutions
to Large Societal Challenges
Realized at scale

2. TOPICS FOR TODAY’S DISCUSSION
1. Relevance of creative leadership
2. Innovation in education

3. THE WORLD SEEMS INCREASINGLY VOLATILE,
UNCERTAIN, COMPLEX AND AMBIGUOUS

4. WHY?
Increasing social and economic
interdependencies
Ubiquity of digitalization in
business – lower entry barriers,
faster speed
Continued urbanization

5. SOCIAL, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ARE
BLENDING
Human
values
Public Business
requirements viability

6. WHY?
Mega challenges abound
Public sector limitations
Social empowerment
Complexity of challenges
Consumer and business shift to
“transformation economy”

7. MEGA CHALLENGES ABOUND
Resources Food Water Climate Energy Sustainability
Demography & Population & Asia: China & Community &
Africa Megacities
Mobility People flows India Tribes
Emergent Nano- Bioscience/G Neuro Artificial
Robotics
Technology technology enetics science Intelligence
Global Economics & Social Intellectual
Complexity Virtual worlds
Interactions finance networks Property
Human Identity & Work & Future
Security Future health
Wellbeing Authenticity Business education

8. COMPLEXITY OF CHALLENGES
EDUCATION
SOCIAL
BIOLOGY
STRUCTURES
OBESITY
(FAST) FOOD
TECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY
ECONOMICS

9. Source: Philips Design
TRANSFORMATION ECONOMY

10. WHY?
“Blinded”” by lofty cause
No market acid test
Truly complex systems
Not always the best talent

11. BUILDING CREATIVE LEADERS
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we
used when we created them”
Albert Einstein
“In a world of increasing complexity and uncertainty,
creativity is the most important leadership quality”
IBM Global CEO Study
“Capitalizing on Complexity” (2011)
“Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a
man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.”
Confucius
11

12. A DEFINITION OF CREATIVE LEADERSHIP
New • products, services, businesses, initiatives,
concepts. and movements
• “new-to-world”, innovative, creative, out-of
the box, not proven.
Societal • meaningful economically and improving
relevance lives of people and/or the planet we live on.
Accelerating • Gaining momentum, spreading “by itself”,
Impact receiving followership, crowd contribution.
In complex • Interlinked, dynamic, uncertain
world environment to operate in
Individual • Limited resources but large access public,
Leadership governments, financiers and corporates.

13. QUESTIONS FOR YOU
Do you agree with the concept of
an increasingly complex world ?
How relevant is the blending of
private, social and public sector?
Is social entreprise really that
difficult?
Do you accept the definition of
creative leadership?

14. 1. Relevance of creative leadership
2. Innovation in education

15. PERSONAL BACKGROUND
Serendipity
Knowledge vs. way of thinking
Learning on the job
Global network

16. OPPORTUNITY TO
CREATE THNK

17. MISSION

18. DESIGN PRINCIPLES - FOCUS
Focus on future leaders
Cultural diversity
International orientation
On invitation: VC mindset

19. NATIONALITY MIX
NATIONALITY MIX
Netherlands USA Brazil Germany China
Spain Canada UK Ireland France
Mexico Ecuador Uganda Nigeria Tanzania
Saudi Arabia Israel India New Zealand

20. POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR YOU
A leadership cohort constitutes a
narrow age band of like minded
people
Cultural diversity is very
rewarding but also very difficult
Social entrepreneurs, commercial
entrepeneurs and corporate
innovation managers lack
understanding of each other

21. DESIGN PRINCIPLES - CONCEPT
Blended with real life pursuits
Co-created/faculty as peers and on stage
No lectures (as much as possible)
Personal coaching
Real life projects
Societal impact (and make money!)
Body & Mind
Energizing location

22. BLENDED WITH OWN REAL LIFE PURSUIT
2012 2013
MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT - MAR
x # of weeks On campus
1 Off campus
4
2
7
2
7
1
18-…
1 1 1 1
22

23. FACULTY AS PEERS AND ON STAGE
STEFANO ELLY RAJIV BALL, ROBERT WOLFE, KARIM BEREND-JAN
MARZANO VAN GILS LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP BENAMMAR, HILBERTS
DEAN LEADERSHIP EXPERT COACH CURATOR CHALLENGE
COACH COORDINATOR
“Inspiring, pushing the envelope and supportive”
“Coaching and being the ‘glue’ to hold teams in good spirit”
“Challenging and stimulating us ‘in our own right’ “
“Bringing fun to the process of challenges”
“True master of the subject including the facts & figures”
“Brings warmth and radiance”
“Truly inspiring and connecting well”
23

24. REAL LIFE PROJECTS
“EMPTY OFFICE “MOBILE DATA “SUSTAINABLE AIRPORT
SPACE” NETWORKS” CITY”
Partners: Partners: Partners:
City of Amsterdam Vodafone KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines
BAM
Amsterdam Airport
ARCADIS
Schiphol
City of Amsterdam

25. SOCIETAL IMPACT
Take a train to a cleaner India
4th largest railway network in the
world transporting nearly 10 billion
passengers annually.
The trains cut through some of the
most beautiful landscapes in the world
Daily nearly 27 million packets of
plastic, paper and aluminum foils are
thrown never to be cleaned up or
recycled.
Find a breakthrough system that will
allow better waste management.

26. BODY AND MIND

27. ENERGIZING LOCATION
27

28. POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR YOU
Leadership development
Takes significant time
Is holistic
Requires experiencing
The role of the `master practioner`
is key
A school is a restaurant, a studio, a
stage, a safe room, a lab, a night
club... but not an auditorium.

29. DESIGN PRINCIPLES – DREAMING FORWARD
Global knowledge network
Experiences across the world
“Teach the teacher”
Integrated research
Funding acceleration

30. QUESTIONS FOR YOU
In your pursuit to better educate
those you are responsible for,
which concepts do appeal to you?
What is the relevance of education
on “creative leadership” across age
groups and educational levels?
Can the concepts of tutoring by
master practioners and of self-
development online be married?

31. Menno.vandijk@thnk.org