Innovation through international inspiration
Okay, mixing it up: As a Dutchman working for a German company, after having lived and worked for 8 years in London and Cambridge, it might not come as a surprise that I believe in looking across borders for inspiration and innovation. Whereas the current political landscape seems to be full of protectionism, nationalism and other restricting -isms, I personally think having open eyes and an open mind is needed to progress, especially in innovation. And I believe this can be achieved without losing your roots or core identity — in the same way that I still feel Dutch, but with some added English and now also German flavours.
I am typing this blog post as I am flying over the Netherlands. My home country is a fascinating mix of meandering rivers, a North Sea coastline and acres of reclaimed land. Protecting towns and cities against the potential dangers of water, being it from the big rivers or the North Sea, is ingrained in our psyche. I have many friends that are working in the field of civil engineering, assuring that all dykes and seaside protection systems are designed, built and maintained well. In growing up in this country, my thinking certainly was shaped by this ‘maakbaarheid’ (‘makeability’, malleability) philosophy. A famous saying loosely translates as ‘if you really want it you’ll find a way’. This mindset paired with the notorious Dutch directness (although in my case slightly numbed by my years in England) creates an interesting mix of attitudes and traits.
Beyond borders
Since April 2018, I am a project lead Innovation Research at Porsche. My remit is to identify relevant and exciting developments in the ‘outside world’ and use these to provide impulses to innovate beyond the logical next step, but without losing valuable Porsche traditions that lie at the core of its identity. I strongly believe that this needs to include looking outside the automotive industry, and has to have an international scope. With the upcoming shift towards autonomous driving, inspiration for the car ‘cockpit’ can come from interior designers and home entertainment developers — how do we create an optimal environment for working, relaxing, and socialising? And mobile platforms like WeChat are becoming the dominant way to buy, reserve, trade and share almost anything in the Chinese market — how will this influence new business models for mobility, especially of the exclusive and sporty kind Porsche is known for? Inspiration can come from many sides, it is definitely not restricted to geographical borders and clearly defined industries!
Innovation and Tradition… and Diversity
Although my base is in Stuttgart, I work closely together with the Porsche Digital Lab in Berlin. This riverside creative hub is a good example of how an international team has the ability to tap into a wider array of experiences and backgrounds to be able to come up with and develop innovative new solutions. This mix between innovation (‘Next Level’) and tradition (‘German Engineering’) strongly appeals to me. It creates a place where I can play a part in using my English experiences and Dutch background, and mix it with the experiences and backgrounds of my German, Indian, Estonian, Bulgarian, etc. etc. colleagues. This melting pot provides our projects with a wider range of inputs and opens our eyes for insights outside our known context, across language, geographical or skill set borders. As we believe this diversity can really initiate innovation we are starting a small blog series. In these blog posts we will have conversations with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and learn about what inspires them. Stay tuned!
Antoon Versteeg is Project Lead Innovation Research at Porsche AG. Please find more about inspiring men & women on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
