Facilitating since 2016 ● 200+ Design Sprints ● Based in the Netherlands ● Rocking it globally ●
Facilitating since 2016 ● 200+ Design Sprints ● Based in the Netherlands ● Rocking it globally ●
Margriet's Favorite Books
A sneak peek in our bookcase
Margriet's Favorite Books
A sneak peek in our bookcase
I love to read. It's my way to relax, be inspired, and especially a moment to reflect. Over the years, I've collected quite a library of books. A few can be found below. New ones added every now and then.
Sprint
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How do you make design thinking practical?
This is what Sprint by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky is all about. If you talk about a book that changed my life, it would be this one!
A book that has allowed me to build a company in a way I never imagined. So what is all the magic about?
The Design Sprint is the recipe to make design thinking practical.
Born at Google Venture, it is a 5-day process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers.
It gives teams an easy to follow steps to get results faster, more focused & with more fun.
Read: 02.2016
There are 3 main reasons why I love the Design Sprint:
📌 You save time: invest 5 days instead of 5 months of meetings.
📌 You save discussion: make decisions based on insights, not opinions.
📌 You save money: a tested prototype versus building a solution a customer does not want.
But most of all, why I still get excited every week I start a new one (after 100+ sprints!) is because it transforms the way you work.
If you want to get your team and organisation moving, I'd say: read the book! Or of course give us a call ;).
Thank you Jake & John for making this recipe available for everyone. And thanks for making work incredibly fun.
→
Sprint
How do you make design thinking practical?
This is what Sprint by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky is all about. If you talk about a book that changed my life, it would be this one!
A book that has allowed me to build a company in a way I never imagined. So what is all the magic about?
The Design Sprint is the recipe to make design thinking practical.
Born at Google Venture, it is a 5-day process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers.
It gives teams an easy to follow steps to get results faster, more focused & with more fun.
There are 3 main reasons why I love the Design Sprint:
📌 You save time: invest 5 days instead of 5 months of meetings.
📌 You save discussion: make decisions based on insights, not opinions.
📌 You save money: a tested prototype versus building a solution a customer does not want.
But most of all, why I still get excited every week I start a new one (after 100+ sprints!) is because it transforms the way you work.
If you want to get your team and organisation moving, I'd say: read the book! Or of course give us a call ;).
Thank you Jake & John for making this recipe available for everyone. And thanks for making work incredibly fun.
Deep Work
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My attention is laser focused in the weeks that I facilitate Design Sprints and I love it. People often ask me “How do you do it”? But to me those weeks are not a challenge, my focus is on the team 100%.
Yet I often feel scattered and distracted when I am not in a Design Sprint. So I went looking for some structure in my weeks ‘off’. I found Cal Newport’s book Deep Work.
The book has two goals;
Improving your ability to concentrate intensely, and
Overcoming the desire for distraction.
Overal conclusion: the ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. No shortcuts unfortunately, although that was to be expected ;).
Read: 10.2019
What I’ve changed
📌 Evening shutdown: flight mode from 21:00 till 9:00 next day. Why: rest your brain regularly & avoid distraction.
📌 Morning ritual: wake up, meditate, tea, walk, shower, healthy breakfast, hour reading/writing and define day highlight. All before 9:00. Why: move beyond good intentions & create something you don’t need to think about.
📌 Email: just once a day. Why: it’s easy to run your day out of your inbox but not the most effective. Call me if something is urgent.
📌 Time batching: organise work into uninterrupted stretches with a strict deadline.
Why? Having a full day to eg. prep a presentation leads to wandering brain. Giving yourself 3 hours creates focus.
→
Deep Work
My attention is laser focused in the weeks that I facilitate Design Sprints and I love it. People often ask me “How do you do it”? But to me those weeks are not a challenge, my focus is on the team 100%.
Yet I often feel scattered and distracted when I am not in a Design Sprint. So I went looking for some structure in my weeks ‘off’. I found Cal Newport’s book Deep Work.
The book has two goals;
Improving your ability to concentrate intensely, and
Overcoming the desire for distraction.
Overal conclusion: the ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. No shortcuts unfortunately, although that was to be expected ;).
What I’ve changed
📌 Evening shutdown: flight mode from 21:00 till 9:00 next day. Why: rest your brain regularly & avoid distraction.
📌 Morning ritual: wake up, meditate, tea, walk, shower, healthy breakfast, hour reading/writing and define day highlight. All before 9:00. Why: move beyond good intentions & create something you don’t need to think about.
📌 Email: just once a day. Why: it’s easy to run your day out of your inbox but not the most effective. Call me if something is urgent.
📌 Time batching: organise work into uninterrupted stretches with a strict deadline.
Why? Having a full day to eg. prep a presentation leads to wandering brain. Giving yourself 3 hours creates focus.
📌 Time batching: organise work into uninterrupted stretches with a strict deadline. Why: Having a full day to eg. prep a presentation leads to wandering brain. Giving yourself 3 hours creates focus.
Overal conclusion: the ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. No shortcuts unfortunately, although that was to be expected ;).
When I asked for tips on ‘How might I become the best storyteller’ one suggestion kept coming back: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
I read it in a few days and it became clear to me that that story I tell with my business can be so much better. Clearer. Less noise.
The basic are this:
Cut the cr*p
Make your customer the hero
People don’t buy the best product. They buy the product they can understand fastest.
Cut the cr*p
📌 Your brain processes information (which costs energy) and steers away from confusion and seeks clarity. Our brain subconsciously asks: Is this information going to help me (survive)?
📌 In general we all communicate with way too much noise. Nobody listens to noise. Within 5 seconds people decide if they continue reading your message.
📌 Keep it simple, relevant, repeatable.
Make your customer the hero
📌 Stories have been around since cavemen sat around campfires. They are a tool for sense-making.
📌 The Story Brand is inspired by the Hero’s Journey, and has 7 ingredients:
a character
has a problem
meets a guide
who gives them a plan
calls them to action
that helps them avoid failure
that ends in success
Read: 02.2020
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building a story brand
→
Building a story brand
When I asked for tips on ‘How might I become the best storyteller’ one suggestion kept coming back: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
I read it in a few days and it became clear to me that that story I tell with my business can be so much better. Clearer. Less noise.
The basic are this:
Cut the cr*p
Make your customer the hero
People don’t buy the best product. They buy the product they can understand fastest.
Cut the cr*p
📌 Your brain processes information (which costs energy) and steers away from confusion and seeks clarity. Our brain subconsciously asks: Is this information going to help me (survive)?
📌 In general we all communicate with way too much noise. Nobody listens to noise. Within 5 seconds people decide if they continue reading your message.
📌 Keep it simple, relevant, repeatable.
Make your customer the hero
📌 Stories have been around since cavemen sat around campfires. They are a tool for sense-making.
📌 The Story Brand is inspired by the Hero’s Journey, and has 7 ingredients:
a character
has a problem
meets a guide
who gives them a plan
calls them to action
that helps them avoid failure
that ends in success
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is relevant always but gives particular inspiration since COVID-19 impacted lives and companies around the world. What are the secrets of highly successful groups? What teams and organisations thrive? Why? And just as important: How?
“A surprising fact about successful cultures: many were forged in moments of crisis. They use a crisis to crystallise their purpose.”
There are three key areas of focus; building safety, sharing vulnerability and establishing purpose.
Build safety
📌 Research shows that not the smartest teams win, but those who feel most safe. Safety is key in trust and thus collaboration.
📌 You need to nurture safety like a romantic relationship. You don’t establish it just once, it’s a continuous process (and work). Sent belonging cues continuously.
📌 The best teams have high trust, no bullshit connections.
Share vulnerability
📌 Lead with the question: How can I help? You don’t need to tell people what to do, you need your team to know what you can do for them.
📌 Be honest and open. Vulnerability does not come after trust, it precedes it.
Establish purpose
📌 Over-communicate priorities. Always. Continuously.
📌 In proficiency cultures be very clear on where you are & where you want to go. People need to know ànd feel how to get from A-B.
📌 In creative cultures you need to go from A to an unknown X. Allow people to discover what needs to be done.
I found this book very helpful. If you are managing a team, a company or like me even facilitating a Design Sprint. During the Design Sprint, or any other workshop, although often a temporary team together for a short time, I try to be conscious of all phases.
Psychological safety is created by clear guidelines and intimate icebreakers;
Share vulnerability by saying: “I don’t have all the answers, you do. I am just here to guide you to them”;
And the customer oriented long-term goal establishes purpose.
Read: 04.2020
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The Culture Code
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is relevant always but gives particular inspiration today when COVID-19 is impacting lives and companies around the world. What are the secrets of highly successful groups? What teams and organisations thrive? Why? And just as important: How?
“A surprising fact about successful cultures: many were forged in moments of crisis. They use a crisis to crystallise their purpose.”
There are three key areas of focus, building safety, sharing vulnerability and establishing purpose. A short summary below:
Build safety
🧷 Research shows that not the smartest teams win, but those who feel most safe. Safety is key in trust and thus collaboration.
🧷 You need to nurture safety like a romantic relationship. You don’t establish it just once, it’s a continuous process (and work). Sent belonging cues continuously.
🧷 The best teams have high trust, no bullshit connections.
Share vulnerability
🙋 Lead with the question: How can I help? You don’t need to tell people what to do, you need your team to know what you can do for them.
🙋 Be honest and open. Vulnerability does not come after trust, it precedes it.
Share vulnerability
📌 Lead with the question: How can I help? You don’t need to tell people what to do, you need your team to know what you can do for them.
📌 Be honest and open. Vulnerability does not come after trust, it precedes it.
Establish purpose
📌 Over-communicate priorities. Always. Continuously.
📌 In proficiency cultures be very clear on where you are & where you want to go. People need to know ànd feel how to get from A-B.
📌 In creative cultures you need to go from A to an unknown X. Allow people to discover what needs to be done.
I found this book very helpful. If you are managing a team, a company or like me even facilitating a Design Sprint. During the Design Sprint, or any other workshop, although often a temporary team together for a short time, I try to be conscious of all phases.
Psychological safety is created by clear guidelines and intimate icebreakers;
Share vulnerability by saying: “I don’t have all the answers, you do. I am just here to guide you to them”;
And the customer oriented long-term goal establishes purpose.
Read: 04.2020
→
The Culture Code
→
The Culture Code
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is relevant always but gives particular inspiration since COVID-19 impacted lives and companies around the world. What are the secrets of highly successful groups? What teams and organisations thrive? Why? And just as important: How?
“A surprising fact about successful cultures: many were forged in moments of crisis. They use a crisis to crystallise their purpose.”
There are three key areas of focus; building safety, sharing vulnerability and establishing purpose.
Build safety
📌 Research shows that not the smartest teams win, but those who feel most safe. Safety is key in trust and thus collaboration.
📌 You need to nurture safety like a romantic relationship. You don’t establish it just once, it’s a continuous process (and work). Sent belonging cues continuously.
📌 The best teams have high trust, no bullshit connections.
Share vulnerability
📌 Lead with the question: How can I help? You don’t need to tell people what to do, you need your team to know what you can do for them.
📌 Be honest and open. Vulnerability does not come after trust, it precedes it.
Establish purpose
📌 Over-communicate priorities. Always. Continuously.
📌 In proficiency cultures be very clear on where you are & where you want to go. People need to know ànd feel how to get from A-B.
📌 In creative cultures you need to go from A to an unknown X. Allow people to discover what needs to be done.
I found this book very helpful. If you are managing a team, a company or like me even facilitating a Design Sprint. During the Design Sprint, or any other workshop, although often a temporary team together for a short time, I try to be conscious of all phases.
Psychological safety is created by clear guidelines and intimate icebreakers;
Share vulnerability by saying: “I don’t have all the answers, you do. I am just here to guide you to them”;
And the customer oriented long-term goal establishes purpose.
→
Power of Moments
What did you do Tuesday morning two weeks ago? If you are like me, you probably won’t remember. You likely do remember your wedding, first day of a new job or the last terrible customer experience you had.
Why is this? Not all moments are created equal.
When we recall an experience, we tend to remember key moments: the peaks, the pits, and the transitions. It’s these defining moments that shape our lives.
A defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful. You don’t have to wait to make them happen. You can create them. This is what the book The Power of Moments is about.
Brothers Chip & Dan Heath take you through examples of powerful moments and how to create them. All backed up by science.
How to create a moment that matters?
Just remember EPIC. Any of the four elements has the potential to become a powerful moment.
📌 Elevation: Emotional peaks (along with endings) are more likely to get remembered. Think of milestones and achievements.
📌 Pride: Recognize others. Sometimes just a few positive words can turn into a huge moment of pride for the recipient.
📌 Insight: We change our view of the world and likely change we way we live our lives as a result. This often happens in moments of transition or challenge.
📌 Connection: An experience that is shared with others is likely to be more meaningful.
The book is a definite must read for anyone working on customer and employee experience. Or actually, anyone really because how wonderful would it be if we all focussed a little more on creating memorable moments for others?!
→
Building a story brand
What did you do Tuesday morning two weeks ago? If you are like me, you probably won’t remember. You likely do remember your wedding, first day of a new job or the last terrible customer experience you had.
Why is this? Not all moments are created equal.
When we recall an experience, we tend to remember key moments: the peaks, the pits, and the transitions. It’s these defining moments that shape our lives.
A defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful. You don’t have to wait to make them happen. You can create them. This is what the book The Power of Moments is about.
Brothers Chip & Dan Heath take you through examples of powerful moments and how to create them. All backed up by science.
How to create a moment that matters?
Just remember EPIC. Any of the four elements has the potential to become a powerful moment.
📌 Elevation: Emotional peaks (along with endings) are more likely to get remembered. Think of milestones and achievements.
📌 Pride: Recognize others. Sometimes just a few positive words can turn into a huge moment of pride for the recipient.
📌 Insight: We change our view of the world and likely change we way we live our lives as a result. This often happens in moments of transition or challenge.
📌 Connection: An experience that is shared with others is likely to be more meaningful.
The book is a definite must read for anyone working on customer and employee experience. Or actually, anyone really because how wonderful would it be if we all focussed a little more on creating memorable moments for others?!
Creative confidence
→
New to the field of innovation or design? Creative Confidence is your book. Actually, it's a book everyone should read.
Written by IDEO brothers Tom Kelley & David Kelley, the book is all about applying design thinking to nurture the creativity that's in all of us.
In the Tibetan language there is no word for creativity. The closest translation is "natural".
And that's my goal: Just to be natural.
Read: 10.2022
By being natural:
📌 We are creative.
📌 We are imaginative.
📌 We are intuitive.
📌 We are curious.
📌 We recognise patterns.
📌 We have courage.
📌 We are problem solvers.
📌 We are designers.
So listen to your creativity, use your imagination and create new & positive solutions.
"We can all be designers. Look around the world and see the opportunity to do things better and have the desire to change them."
→
Creative confidence
New to the field of innovation or design? Creative Confidence is your book. Actually, it's a book everyone should read.
Written by IDEO brothers Tom Kelley & David Kelley, the book is all about applying design thinking to nurture the creativity that's in all of us.
In the Tibetan language there is no word for creativity. The closest translation is "natural".
And that's my goal: Just to be natural.
By being natural:
📌 We are creative.
📌 We are imaginative.
📌 We are intuitive.
📌 We are curious.
📌 We recognise patterns.
📌 We have courage.
📌 We are problem solvers.
📌 We are designers.
So listen to your creativity, use your imagination and create new & positive solutions.
"We can all be designers. Look around the world and see the opportunity to do things better and have the desire to change them."
📌 Time batching: organise work into uninterrupted stretches with a strict deadline. Why: Having a full day to eg. prep a presentation leads to wandering brain. Giving yourself 3 hours creates focus.
Overal conclusion: the ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. No shortcuts unfortunately, although that was to be expected ;).
I love Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like an Artist. He shares his 10 lessons to unlock your creativity. Why re-invent the wheel when many great minds before us have made great work, came up with wonderful solutions and ideas!? After all many innovations are sparked outside of their own field.
But my favourite lesson: Limitations mean freedom from the chapter Creativity is Subtraction.
Limitations mean freedom.
He talks about the age of information abundance and overload, where having constraints actually allows you to concentrate on what is important.
So brainstorms where we say, “the sky is the limit” are not that helpful. They can be paralysing.
How might boundaries encourage greater creativity?
I found this study from the American Society of Landscape Architects from 2006 where they tested if a fence would constrain children in their play. Turns out that on playgrounds without fences children were playing it ‘safe’. They tended to stay around the teacher, keeping him/her in sight. On playgrounds that were fenced in, they ran around the full space. They were more free to explore the entire playground.
With more constraints we actually get more creative to explore the far corners of what is possible within those boundaries.
So next time you do a brainstorm, instead of pushing teams to think outside the box, make sure there is a clear box defined.
In the Design Sprint we do this naturally. On Monday, after a full day of understanding the context, the team chooses a target. This target sets a clear boundary of what we focus on, and what we will not focus on. So that on Tuesday, when we head into the individual brainstorm everyone has the ‘fence’ defined and is ready to be optimally creative.
This boundary setting is equally important in any problem solving or ideation session.
Read: 11.2023
→
Steal like an artist
→
Steal like an artist
I love Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like an Artist. He shares his 10 lessons to unlock your creativity. Why re-invent the wheel when many great minds before us have made great work, came up with wonderful solutions and ideas!? After all many innovations are sparked outside of their own field.
But my favourite lesson: Limitations mean freedom from the chapter Creativity is Subtraction.
Limitations mean freedom.
He talks about the age of information abundance and overload, where having constraints actually allows you to concentrate on what is important.
So brainstorms where we say, “the sky is the limit” are not that helpful. They can be paralysing.
How might boundaries encourage greater creativity?
I found this study from the American Society of Landscape Architects from 2006 where they tested if a fence would constrain children in their play. Turns out that on playgrounds without fences children were playing it ‘safe’. They tended to stay around the teacher, keeping him/her in sight. On playgrounds that were fenced in, they ran around the full space. They were more free to explore the entire playground.
With more constraints we actually get more creative to explore the far corners of what is possible within those boundaries.
So next time you do a brainstorm, instead of pushing teams to think outside the box, make sure there is a clear box defined.
In the Design Sprint we do this naturally. On Monday, after a full day of understanding the context, the team chooses a target. This target sets a clear boundary of what we focus on, and what we will not focus on. So that on Tuesday, when we head into the individual brainstorm everyone has the ‘fence’ defined and is ready to be optimally creative.
This boundary setting is equally important in any problem solving or ideation session.
Facilitating since 2016 ● 200+ Design Sprints ● Based in the Netherlands ● Rocking it globally ●
Facilitating since 2016 ● 200+ Design Sprints ● Based in the Netherlands ● Rocking it globally ●
What else kept us busy the past years?
We've been busy collecting new memories, during and off work — and when we have a new one, we stick it on the Yellow Wall.
We love to work remote and to travel to relax and get inspired. Want to do the same? Check out some of our tips from Robert
We facilitated many workshops, programs and Design Sprints. Want to read some of our stories from the past years?
How can we help you?
Based in the Netherlands, rocking it globally. We love to travel, preferably by train when within Europe.
What we do
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Based in the Netherlands, rocking it globally. We love to travel, preferably by train when within Europe.
Based in the Netherlands, rocking it globally. We love to travel, preferably by train when within Europe.