Philip Vanhoutte
Leveraging a rewarding international career in the ITC industry, my passion for personal productivity tools and communication & collaboration solutions has morphed into a singular purpose: accelerating the realization of human potential.
I champion the adoption of Smarter Working: a holistic human centered work design practice that unifies space, technology and people disciplines. Co-authored "The Smarter Working Manifesto", a definitive guide on how to shape the best work style. Workplace Effectiveness Benchmarking, Activity Based Working, SoundScaping and Distributed Work Success are some of the innovations I promote in this field.
I stimulate Smarter Careers as catalyst for Human Realization, curating diverse tools into a cohesive framework for Self-Directed Career Management. As a career veteran I advocate Deep Motivation Analysis, discovery and unleashing of Core Energy, Essence Mining for Meaning at Work and Career Fitness Profiling.
In my quest for Health & Happiness at Work I learned that Nature Deficit Disorder has produced highest ever burnouts, work induced sickness and a struggling workforce. With the launch of EASI, there should never be just another day at the office.
Jan Vanhoutte
In my early career I jumped from FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) branding and advertising in boutique firms to account management for SaaS marketing tech and product marketing in the online advertising space. I also made a few wrong turns along the way but learned tremendously from those experiences.
Once I found my feet by realising that I love to create no matter what the medium (whether it is a mobile app or a sketching a new design for a building) I became more at ease what my purpose was in life and where I should devote my energy and time.
In 2016 I was fortunate enough to co-found an exciting startup (www.shepper.com) with the vision to help global businesses manage and collect physical data on their geographically distributed assets using a network of gig workers that in turn wanted to earn money. Think TFL checking on their bus stops for graffiti, Airbnb properties being checked for cleanliness and consumer goods companies wanting to see their products in store at scale.
That rewarding yet taxing experience also taught me that working long hours in often unsatisfactory environments place a heavy toll on your well being and creativity.
I joined Smarter Working in 2021 to focus on how we can solve the needs of many unhappy professionals around the world by being an ambassador for modern work rituals, creating supportive spaces where we can work and energise, and connecting us with inspiring places close to nature.