MakerLab and publisher VAN IN: the 8 lessons from VAN IN's in-house innovation programs

When an employee asks, 'Can we do another MakerLab programme?', you know you're doing something right with the client. It shows that your innovation programme has made a lasting impact on the people within the company. MakerLab and VAN IN, the largest educational publisher in Belgium, have been successfully working together for nine years. MakerLab's managing partner, Sander Goudswaard, spoke with Vicky Adriaensen, managing director at VAN IN, about the lessons they've learned from innovating together.

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1. Long or short? Make a choice

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Sander: 'We have done short and long trajectories with VAN IN, but the last program was perhaps the most ambitious: a four-month trajectory. Totally different from, say, one intensive week.'

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Vicky: "The advantage of such a longer process was that people had time, but that was simultaneously a disadvantage. In between, you return to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. You had to rediscover that focus each time, which is energy-consuming.'

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Sander: 'The counterpart is that it did give you time to do thorough interviews and experiments. However you shape a project, you always have to make choices - there is no right or wrong.'

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Vicky: "That's correct. In the span of a week, you might not be able to reach the right people, resulting in an outcome based on somewhat superficial knowledge. Now, we've created space for each process step. From research to prototyping, and from validation to business modelling, the teams had the time to delve deeply, which made the step to actual product development after four months much less significant.'

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2. You don't get that focus overnight

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Vicky: "In a company, you deal with the daily grind and occasionally think about innovation. In such a MakerLab environment, you are 100% focused on it. It's like locking people in a meeting room and throwing away the key.'

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Sander: "Every so often, you inject a shot of innovation at VAN IN to get things moving. Afterwards, it trickles down into the daily routine and echoes for a long time.'

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Vicky: 'MakerLabs expertise is that they challenge you everywhere. The pains and gains are hammered into us.'

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Sander: 'When you see the culture change before your eyes ... those are Eureka moments. You can't plan or buy that, it has to happen while you're at it.'

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Vicky: "I once hoped to bring that expertise in-house, but someone who does this day in and day out always adds more value. This is your DNA, Sander. It makes the end result so much sharper..'

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3. Today says nothing about tomorrow

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Vicky: "As a publishing company, we typically spend a long time developing an educational method. If you wait three years to assess whether the customer is happy with it, you take quite a risk. This approach forces you to make it iterative. Now we test an idea in its embryonic stage. The customer might already say, "This is not what we want." You adjust more quickly and continue to make adjustments along the way.'

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4. It really is all about the customer

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Vicky: "Every company shouts, "I'm customer-centric!" We all have that ambition, but still: how customer-centric are you really? You can't be more engaged with your customer than in this journey. At each stage, you engage with the customer and ask for feedback. Because what the customer asks and what the customer really wants are often not the same either. It doesn't get any more pure than that.'

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5. Dare to change, even when it's uncomfortable

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Vicky: "We have people in-house who used to be teachers or school principals, and that brings an incredible wealth of knowledge. The big risk is they might think, "I know what the customer wants because I used to be the customer." Of course, that's not always true. There are many different types of customers, and things are constantly evolving. So, it's important to keep a finger on the pulse.'

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Sander: "We then ask: "Do you have any evidence?" A gut feeling isn't enough. This can cause some tension because it challenges someone's expertise. But when you start looking into it, you notice things happening. Hey, wait a minute, I'm being challenged and suddenly I'm learning new things, or it turns out to be a bit different than I thought. Some people enjoy that more than others, and that's just part of it.'

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6. One person cannot innovate alone

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Vicky: "Publishers usually take the lead, but we always look for a multi-functional approach. For each project, we consider which teams can contribute, making the final outcome richer. Sometimes you want someone from finance or sales involved; other times, it’s the tech team that joins in. The great thing is that the new idea doesn’t just belong to the publisher, but to many more people.

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Sander: When we approached someone with the question, "You're an expert in this area, right? Can we pick your brain for a bit?", it worked really well to get people involved with a team. This gave us the interaction we were hoping for.





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7. Maintain short lines of communication with superiors.

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Sander: "By holding recurring sessions with a small management team, we achieved gains on more levels this time. That was a real learning experience. You can see that there are different needs within the team. One person wants to develop the best and most advanced proposition possible, while another believes that as long as everyone participates, it's good enough. This can lead to conflicts in such a programme. Now we were able to address it in advance: know that if you go in this direction, you will have to compromise here.

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8. Make it real

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Vicky: "The process is intensive and demanding. It’s not just about coming up with a quick idea and a nice pitch, and that's it. We want the ideas to truly take root. Therefore, we are giving this innovative programme the attention it deserves within our organisation.'

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Sander: 'At such a pitch event, many people are present, including the management team. We practise intensively for two days: how do you tell a story? People have learned a lot and want to tell everything, but a good pitch quickly gets to the point.'

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Vicky: "I believe in this approach. We have now taken concrete steps with some projects. That's a compliment to MakerLab.'

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