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Introduction

The Owls motto is: act together, show leadership!

In this volume, we have selected cases with a special focus on human leadership and the generic factor concept, and we explain how it was dealt with in a variety of different environments.

1.     The Global Leadership Foundation. This case study shows how international leadership can create a highly-qualified network with a very practical, hands-on mentality providing the right profile for important international governmental advice.

2. The twin chapter on the circular economy is a challenging one. To take on such a target is an ambitious task which is all about creating an impact on society. Education and science will play a key role. One of the challenges is to stay pragmatic with both feet on the ground. The two chapters are good examples of how to do this. They show the importance of people, leadership and the environment so that movement is not only top-down but also bottom-up. The Unilever case study is an example of exceptional leadership which focuses on making innovations really happen. Enabling leadership, showing courage and a good balance of planning and ownership, is the key for success.

3. The Unilever study also shows how important a well-worked-out concept in goals and sub-goals is in addition to a supportive environment inside and outside the organisation. It needs guts to deal with the contradictions of a competitive environment and the demands of shareholders.

4. The healthcare case study is an exclusive abstract of the excellent book Rescuing Healthcare: A Leadership Prescription to Make Healthcare What We All Want It to Be, by Antony Bell and Denis A. Cortese, MD (2017). The chapter highlights examples of a number of medical organisations in the USA and the Netherlands whose leaders exemplify the kind of daring and innovative leadership advocated in this chapter.

5. ‘Building the Future of Health’ is the result of our Write Your Own Chapter project, which offers organisations the chance to test the innovative mindset, environment and capability of their organisation or project based on The Owls Breakthrough Method. It helped the UMCG in Groningen gain insight into unique aspects of their work such as the importance of a proper conceptual approach — with precise targets and goals — to achieve a really innovative impact. It also shows the importance of a balance between ideas, goals and execution.

6.  The Van Oord case study is a good example of how innovation can be driven by real entrepreneurship — a family-owned firm faced with the challenge of a tough market setting itself ambitious targets with considerable risks attached and seeking innovative ways to achieve them. The Van Oord case is also interesting because not only is technical innovation necessary — so is leadership at every level. The chapter explains the type of leadership necessary to run a big family company and to plan and carry out a proper succession policy.

7. ‘Jan Peter Balkenende: The Responsible Society’ is about creating and stimulating a positive mindset for innovations and breakthroughs by political and governmental leadership, and the need for long-term planning. This is a key for success, easy to say but difficult to achieve.

Each chapter holds valuable lessons. This knowledge can be beneficial for multi-disciplinary and crossover activities which are of great importance in today’s globalised world. It is very helpful if you are able to see and understand the mechanisms involved in the different activities we describe. For example, health and logistics are both adapting to consumer-driven markets (concept, planning and execution). The environment may be very important for the success or failure of a process. Different countries have different cultures. Society and governments can be decisive stumbling blocks, and understanding their role requires attention beforehand. That also applies to the position of people related to a company, such as stakeholders and shareholders.

As mentioned before, the importance of the concept generic factor also stands out from the cases described in this volume. An accurate concept is a must. Further on in the Annex, specific attention is paid to this under the heading The Owls Breakthrough Concept© which covers its theoretical explanation. A good example of the practice of the concept is the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. It shows how vital the concept was in formulating the right basis for the company’s masterplan to achieve the goals and sub-goals it had set, thus creating the direction envisaged for impact.

Breakthrough From Innovation to Impact, volume 2 is about: Leadership, Courage and Acting Together. The book is available on Amazon.

An extract from the Introduction by Henk van den Breemen, in Breakthrough: From Innovation to Impact, Volume 2.

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