“Innovation requires constant attention”
While the desire to innovate is often there, in practice ideas are frequently left on the back burner longer than is ideal. “There’s often simply not enough time to focus on potential long-term innovations, because core activities demand our full attention,” says Dusty Kwee, Senior Innovation Lead at PostNL. “That’s exactly where we come in. It’s great that a business model is in place and working, but where should it grow in 4, 5, or 10 years? And does that align with ever-changing customer expectations and rapidly evolving technologies? Innovation actually requires continuous attention.”
So Kwee works with the innovation team on the necessary exploration processes—sometimes based on technology, but also on the topic of sustainability, smart cities and opportunities to collaborate with other organizations. “When something happens in the world—like AI now and blockchain a few years ago—it’s too easy to brush it off as hype. “We really try to explore and articulate exactly what’s happening. Then we always bring it back to the organization: do we see a fit there to tackle it together?”
“You work in online stuff—can you help us?”
Kwee began his career at PostNL as an intern, after which he was able to quickly advance within the organization. “Because online Back when it was still relatively new, everything was quite fragmented across the organization. That leads to situations where you end up competing with colleagues for the same keywords to buy from Google. In the end, we combined it all. Anyone who something "with online operations in a single department."
“Innovation requires constant attention”
While the desire to innovate is often there, in practice ideas are frequently left on the back burner longer than is ideal. “There’s often simply not enough time to focus on potential long-term innovations, because core activities demand our full attention,” says Dusty Kwee, Senior Innovation Lead at PostNL. “That’s exactly where we come in. It’s great that a business model is in place and working, but where should it grow in 4, 5, or 10 years? And does that align with ever-changing customer expectations and rapidly evolving technologies? Innovation actually requires continuous attention.”
So Kwee works with the innovation team on the necessary exploration processes—sometimes based on technology, but also on the topic of sustainability, smart cities and opportunities to collaborate with other organizations. “When something happens in the world—like AI now and blockchain a few years ago—it’s too easy to brush it off as hype. “We really try to explore and articulate exactly what’s happening. Then we always bring it back to the organization: do we see a fit there to tackle it together?”
“You work in online stuff—can you help us?”
Kwee began his career at PostNL as an intern, after which he was able to quickly advance within the organization. “Because online Back when it was still relatively new, everything was quite fragmented across the organization. That leads to situations where you end up competing with colleagues for the same keywords to buy from Google. In the end, we combined it all. Anyone who something “handling online matters in a single department.”
That’s how Kwee became the first point of contact for all online issues. “I’ve seen so much over the years—from consumer inquiries to international projects. But mostly, I just kept getting the same question over and over again: “Dusty, you know a thing or two about the internet—can you help us?” “Sometimes that was possible, but sometimes we just didn’t have the resources. That’s actually how the innovation lab came about.”
Innovation from the sorting center
The next step was the location. Herna Verhagen, CEO of PostNL, immediately had an idea. Kwee: “Herna mentioned that PostNL had recently sold a sorting center in Amsterdam to B. Amsterdam. They did something “with innovation and startups,” I was told. “That’s how we eventually got started in our old sorting center, as a sort of pilot project.”
That location really sparked our creativity. “It exudes innovation and entrepreneurship,” says Kwee. “It offers a completely different vibe than a traditional corporate environment. That pays off right away when you invite other colleagues to stop by: it’s a cool, inspiring place where you can come up with new ideas. And where you can easily connect with other entrepreneurs. That freedom to test things out in a creative environment has been a huge help to our innovation studio.’
Not-invented-here syndrome
“At first, absolutely any idea was welcome,” says Kwee. “Whether they came from inside or outside the company, everything was welcome. It soon became clear that this wasn’t the right strategy, because we ended up with an incredible amount of shit inside. We quickly realized that we needed a more structured approach: identifying challenges within the organization and working with them to find innovative solutions.”
Meanwhile, the lab, with a total of six employees, works closely with the various business units within PostNL. This ensures that innovations are not only developed but also actually integrated into the organization. “We really do work together with the business units, because that’s how you build support. Otherwise, you run the risk of "not invented here" syndrome receives. That runs counter to any form of innovation.’
Luggage Service
In the meantime, the lab has already gone through quite a few projects. Sometimes successful—and sometimes less. “One of our first major projects was a luggage service, where PostNL transported vacationers’ suitcases from their homes to Schiphol Airport and checked them in,” says Kwee. “We eventually set that up with various partners. We then got started as a small startup, and after two and a half years, we reached a point where the service had proven itself with repeat customers—but wasn’t yet turning a profit.”
“Then you’re faced with a choice,” says Kwee. “Do you want to keep investing, or kill "How do you know when a project is over? That’s kind of the challenge for all innovation labs. When do you invest? And when do you stop? This project came to an end, but it gave me a positive sign that we’re working as an entire organization to learn from one another. The process has taught us a lot that will help us make different choices in the future."
“Always home with a home parcel locker”
A recent project was the development of the home parcel locker. “That process actually began three years ago, when we investigated how people want to receive their packages when they’re not at home. We looked at various solutions at the time. Do they want to pick up the package from a neighbor? A nearby PostNL pickup point, or perhaps a spot around their home? It turned out that a parcel locker, a box "at home, people thought it looked a bit like that."
After half an hour of Photoshop and coding, the landing page was live. “Under the slogan: ‘Always home with a home parcel locker,’” Kwee laughs. “I then launched a small campaign within the track and trace-environment, featuring a banner and a link to a form. Within half an hour, I received a notification that the form had crashed; by that time, 200 people had already signed up. That was enough for me to know there was potential for a pilot here.’
Not ROI, butreturn on learning
Dusty is optimistic about the future of innovation at PostNL. “We’ve had to fight hard to prove our worth, but we’ve since shown that we can move quickly. Every business unit should always be focused on the return on investment, we can learn quickly and provide the right feedback. It’s all about return on learning, in order to eliminate as many uncertainties from the business case as possible. We are a kind of de-risking-machine.’
‘Sometimes things don’t go quite as well, and then everyone’s eyes are on the core business focused. That’s often justified, but once you’ve moved past that phase, you need new things and ideas. Our role is to keep fostering inspiration within the organization and to show what’s happening in the world around us.”
