Corporate Culture: Separating the Signal from the Noise
Interview in DaddyKate Yearbook 2023 with Projective Group CFO Laurent Zintz & Unbossers Founder Nick Van Langendonck
Picture: Like every year, DaddyKate proudly put together their DADDY KATE yearbook – a collection of highlights, achievements, and moments that made the year unforgettable. 🌟 The 2023 edition is extra special! 💡 The cover is printed using the innovative HAPT technology from Durst Group AG – what a cool effect! Depending on how you hold it, the colors on the cover shift and change, making it an interactive experience. 🌈👀 They also used 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 in the rest of the book, very fun to explore.
Introduction
“Imposing a culture from above doesn’t work.” It turns out to be a striking statement made by DaddyKate ceo Thijs Claes during a visit by networking organisation Unbossers to Daddy Kate. With Nick Van Langendonck (LinkedIn) from Unbossers and fellow visitor Laurent Zintz (LinkedIn) from Projective Group, we explore the meaning behind this statement.
Before the conversation begins, Laurent shares a brief anecdote. His employer, Projective Group, publishes a yearbook each year. When Laurent learned about Thijs’ work, he proudly showcased their current yearbook, promising that the next edition would be printed with Daddy Kate. However, upon examining the yearbook, Thijs pointed out that it had already been produced by Daddy Kate. This moment highlighted a key insight: during the visit, the focus wasn’t on DaddeKate’s operations but on its corporate culture.
Oil spill principle
And when it comes to corporate culture, Nick is an expert. In 2022, he founded the networking organization Unbossers—not just another platform for exchanging business cards, but a network designed for deeper conversations. With Unbossers, Nick aims to connect companies striving to make their organizations more human-centric and agile.
“Laurent and his colleagues from Projective Group also visited Daddy Kate last year,” Nick shares. “Thijs has been an invaluable sparring partner during the early stages of Unbossers. I’m grateful he opened up his company to share both the successes and the challenges they faced.”
That openness to discussing challenges is a core principle of Unbossers. The network actively avoids companies that only share polished success stories. “The environment must foster vulnerability,” Nick emphasizes. “Every company that shares its story openly acknowledges the mistakes they’ve made along the way. Daddy Kate was no exception. For instance, their early acquisitions revealed significant differences in corporate cultures. Their initial, proactive approach to quickly align those cultures proved ineffective.”
During company visits organized by Unbossers, businesses facing specific challenges come together with those that have already navigated similar issues. During this visit at Daddy Kate, the discussion centered on acquisitions. How do you address corporate culture when acquiring companies at a fast pace? Do you impose your own culture, or do you co-create something new? These were pressing questions for the Projective Group, as they grappled with similar challenges in their own growth journey.
Picture: In today’s interconnected world, internal and external communication must be aligned. Employees act as brand ambassadors, and any mismatch between internal and external messages can damage trust. By maintaining consistency, even with sensitive information, companies foster credibility, transparency, and deeper engagement with both employees and customers.
“We made several acquisitions in quick succession, which brought our team to 1,200 people,” says Laurent. “At that point, you start to wonder how you’re going to manage it all. Part of our company resonates with Nick’s principles, so we decided to introduce a small group of employees to these ideas first, allowing them to gradually spread throughout the organization like an oil slick.”
This approach aligns perfectly with how the Unbossers Network operates. Following a company visit, a follow-up session is held just two weeks later, where participants can invite colleagues to continue the dialogue and initiate broader conversations within their organization.
Laurent believes this method is spot on. “Big theories look great on slides, but until people truly understand and apply them, nothing will change.”
Ownership
“Being transparent with your family is easy,” Nick observes. “But how do you maintain transparency when dealing with sensitive information or during challenging times for your company?”
This question also resonated with students from Antwerp Universityl, who attended the visitors’ day at Daddy Kate to ensure young talent had a voice in the discussions. “Their perspective was straightforward: if you want people to take ownership, they need access to all relevant information. This transparency enables them to identify and solve problems, fostering a more productive workplace.”
The real value of the Unbossers Network lies in these honest, open conversations. Forget polished slide decks—groups of eight companies come together to lay their challenges on the table. The diversity within these groups is intentional and transformative.
“In most networking organizations, you’re grouped by sector or function,” Nick explains. “But the real strength comes from bringing together people with different roles, from different sectors, across generations, to tackle specific business challenges through a shared set of values.”
Picture: Remember Peter Drucker's famous saying, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast"? DaddyKate places a strong emphasis on communicating its values, ensuring they resonate with both employees and customers alike.
Second Enlightenment
For decades, companies focused on standardizing everything. Eventually, a counter-movement emerged, rejecting the notion of forcing everyone into the same mold. “This tension between control and centralization on one side, and the desire for freedom and transparency on the other, is nothing new,” Nick explains. “It has been part of human history for millennia. Take the Enlightenment of the 18th century, for example—a reaction to the absolutism of Louis XIV, the French Sun King, who centralized power at Versailles. In response, a movement arose demanding more freedom, justice, and equality. In my view, we’re now experiencing a second Enlightenment—this time in the workplace.”
Can any company make that shift? “Absolutely,” Laurent asserts. “But what’s truly required is behavioral change. At Projective Group, we regularly lead change initiatives for companies aiming to work more efficiently or adapt in other ways. Drafting a plan might only take two hours, but it’s the people who need to implement it—and that requires a willingness to organize and operate differently. It takes time and effort. That’s why Nick’s analogy with the Enlightenment is so relevant. It, too, started with a small group of dissatisfied individuals.
“And this movement isn’t limited to modern, innovative companies,” Laurent adds. “Even in organizations you might consider old-fashioned or dull, there are always people who want to drive change.”
Cut-out
According to Nick, the most famous slide of any company is the organisation chart where the CEO is at the top. “It makes it immediately clear what a company is striving for. Whereas we are not there to serve the management, but the customer. So put your customer along with you on that slide.”
Daddy Kate also follows that principle. “In the meeting room, they have a life-size cardboard copy of their customer. Every meeting, that one slides with them at the table,” Laurent adds. Unbossers will soon enter the next chapter. It must become a social enterprise with the aim of improving corporate culture in Belgium and beyond. The running of that organisation will soon have to be done by so-called stewards. “Thijs will also take on the role of steward to help set the outlines with his expertise. And I am very grateful for that,” Nick concludes.
Who's Laurent Zintz: - Started at Accenture in 2004 as a business analyst - Has been CFO of Projective Group since 2010, an organisation that supervises large change projects at banks and insurance companies - Saw the company evolve from 12 to 1,200 employees during that time - Also sits on the board of an IT matchmaker and a private equity fund - Believes you build a sustainable company if you allow everyone to flourish individually
Who's Laurent Zintz: - Started his career as a business consultant at Engie and Eni - Teaches organisational design at Antwerp Management School and University of Antwerp - Founded a so-called social innovation agency in 2014 that grew to 15 employees - Was a co-partner in a private equity fund with a focus on social projects from 2018 to 2021 - Notices that his real passion lies in organisational and cultural development on a large scale - Started the ecosystem Unbossers Network in 2022 through which he connects companies to help each other in their transformation to a human organisation
