Prototype Your Talent Development, with guest Wouter Smeets

Dutch entrepreneur (and surfer) Wouter Smeets is an innovation expert who took the best practices of innovation and put them into talent development. With Prototype You he nurtures continuous learning in organizations.

In this episode we dive into Wouter’s views and his program, which empowers employees to become the director of their own personal development and career.

Traditionally you went to an ad-hoc training at the company’s request. But in the world we live in now, organisations need to keep up with the speed of change and innovation. As a result, expertise and skills in the workplace get outdated fast. Continuous learning needs to be embedded in organisations to keep up with the speed of change.

Prototype You means: you are the prototype of your own personal development and career. “We nurture ownership throughout the entire journey,” says Smeets.

This approach to talent development benefits from the best parts of lean, agile, design thinking and peer-to-peer collaboration. It provides a structure for continuous learning, including the most essential features of the learning cycle, to make it really deliver value.

An important take-away: make sure to have employees develop from their own ambitions and talents to get the most out of them. Don’t impose only organisational ambitions on your employees. That mindset change is at the core of making learning at the speed of business truly happen.

“Don’t think for employees but help them think for themselves. They may have a co-pilot but they get to choose their own direction.”