10 years of innovating with Interpolis: do, dare, and truth

1. Courage: ‘Dare to think differently’

Let's start with courage, giving Interpolis all the credit. Because to renew the insurance world, you have to dare to look beyond your familiar business of insurance products. And that's what Interpolis does, without hesitation. More than 10 years ago, Interpolis organized special LEF weeks for this purpose, a name that is quite fitting in this context. During these weeks, in which we also participated, people were ‘freed up’ to work in complete focus on one issue, resulting in a concept for an innovative solution. That requires courage.

In 2016, Interpolis introduced special teams focused on developing smart, innovative solutions. From the very first moment, Freshheads has been part of these teams, continuously discovering new opportunities around safety and prevention. Not all the ideas we have are equally successful, but that too is part of the process: to reach one successful idea, you must also dare to admit when there are less successful ideas. “Of course, not all propositions are successful,” says Head Fee. “That's why we continuously experiment and validate. During the experiments for the SlimThuisApp, it became clear the goal was not achievable, so we pulled the plug.” Colleague Sem comes with another fine example: “At VerbouwMaatje, we proved in a short time that the proposition was not strong enough and stopped with it, a successful example of an unsuccessful proposition.”

Koen, who has been working with Interpolis for about 3.5 years now, greatly admires the entrepreneurial mindset of Interpolis colleagues. “I notice that everyone is very open-minded, that they dare to be vulnerable and critical of their own work. And although this is a prerequisite for successful innovation, it is certainly not a given.”

"Of course, not all propositions are successful, but that's why we continuously experiment" — Fee Schakenraad

2. Doing: 'Learning by doing'

Enough said about daring. On to doing!

A well-known pitfall in innovation is that it gets stuck in creative brainstorms and vague ideas on post-its. True innovation only takes shape when you do it. In the 10 years we have worked with Interpolis, we have developed 44 propositions together. That’s quite something, and mainly the result of following a structured approach and going for it. Was this structured approach always there? Well, not really. In other words: we continuously refine the approach based on what we learn. No single year did our collaboration have the same character. According to Gijs, that's actually good: “At some point, the collaboration seemed to be ‘a given’, after which we precisely started looking again at how to create the most value. Slacking off is not an option.” Colleague Koen adds: “Recently, we’ve taken another great step forward. For each business case, we make all the assumptions explicit on which the case is based and validate them one by one, in order of importance. That helps us to understand even faster why certain propositions are or aren’t viable, enabling us to focus entirely on the right things.”

Another example of ‘doing’ is the way we experiment and validate: we always keep it small and involve users in the process, for instance, with observations, interviews, and smoketests. Gijs: “Years ago, when we wanted to test the sentiment for the new proposition Green Roofs, we went to Pieter Vreedeplein in Tilburg with a cargo bike. Do people want this? That proved to be a brilliant move, where we learned that people primarily want a green roof for aesthetics, even more than for sustainability. For me, this is the textbook example of what we are good at together: starting small with a cargo bike and then advancing to a successful service.”

3. Truth: 'Telling each other the truth'

Last but definitely not least: truth. What started 10 years ago with the construction of a Twitter wall, where we played an executive role, quickly grew into an equal partnership. And what is very important when working as equals: open communication. “You are a team together and really know each other,” Gijs says about this. “This leads to an honest relationship where you can speak your mind.” Former Head Sietse also experienced this when he worked with Interpolis: “Trust was the foundation. We gained more freedom and worked towards a common goal. They asked us to think along about the right approach, and I was given the space to identify and share opportunities.” When Freshheads and Interpolis were nominated for a Dutch Design Award in 2019, this is exactly what the jury highlighted in their commentary: “Remarkable that the intensive collaboration with Freshheads is structurally embedded at Interpolis. It is a mature partnership based on trust and a shared vision.”

Now the real truth on the table: the juice

When you collaborate as equals as we do, there is no longer a client/supplier relationship. The atmosphere is serious when it needs to be and relaxed when it can be. “I will never forget a particular away day,” Gijs tells. “We worked late into the night, only to go to work the next day with a hangover.” We also participated in pub quizzes together, there were volleyball tournaments, and Crazy88 battles. The special team day, organized by Youri, Sem, and Fee, has especially made an impression, as far as the memories go. After a bike ride, an escape room, and a tour at La Trappe, the team ended up at Café Bakker. Sem: “As far as I can remember, it was a very successful evening with a fun quiz and good food.

Interpolis, cheers! We are enormously proud of you and of what we achieve together.