HeadWindProjects B.V.
My Methodology & Influences
The Four-Domain Diagnosis
I work at the intersection of four domains, integrated through Workflow Architecture:
Framed by foresight above...
Futures & Foresight
Context; Where is this going?
Workflow
Architecture
Governance
Data
Org
Design
AI/IT
Architecture
Behaviour & Cognition
Why does change stick or fail?
...and human reality below.
Most people feel comfortable in one domain. I synthesize across all four simultaneously—and that's where breakthrough insights emerge.
What This Means in Practice
When I assess your organization, I'm not just asking questions from a single discipline. I'm applying layered diagnostic lenses:
The Diagnostic Stack
| Layer | Source Framework | Key Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Futures & Foresight | Nick Foster, Ken Liu | Where is this going? What type of futures thinking are we doing? What's missing? What scenarios are we blind to? |
| Org Design & Governance | Corporate Rebels B.V | What is the company's Purpose & Principles? Who decides? Why? Is that the right relational model? Where does authority get stuck? How does the division of labor and integration of effort compliment these? |
| AI/IT Architecture & Data | MIT xPRO | What data architecture reflects how people coordinate? Where are the hidden handshakes? What's automatable vs what needs human judgment? |
| Behavioral Science / Neuropsychology | Melanie Franklin & PEPE®, Ed Pike (Irrational Change), Rory Sutherland | How do we make change stick? What's the emotional reality? What's the reframe? Can the system absorb this? Where's the pain? What's the sweet spot? |
| Workflow Architecture | Four-Domain Integration | How do these domains connect in this specific context? Where does the intersection create breakthrough insight? |
Where Domains Intersect
The real diagnostic power emerges where these lenses overlap:
Futures + Governance = Strategic Decision Architecture
Understanding where your industry is heading helps you design decision rights that will still be relevant in 3 years, not just today.
Behavioral Science + Neuropsychology = Change Readiness & Sustainable Adaptability
Combining psychological reframing with neuroscience reveals why smart people resist obviously beneficial changes—and how to make transformation stick without burning people out.
AI/IT + Governance = Data, Automation and Accountability
Your data structures encode decision rights whether you designed them that way or not. Make it intentional: access controls = authority boundaries, data flows = approval processes, data quality = accountability.
Futures + AI/IT = Realistic Technology Foresight
Not "what's technically possible" but "what's strategically necessary given where we're heading." Technology choices shaped by futures thinking, not vendor hype.
All Four Domains = Workflow Architecture
This is where integration happens. How work actually flows, how authority travels with context, how systems enable (or block) human coordination. The center of the diagnostic model.
Powerful Reframes for Client Conversations
These are the insights that emerge from multi-domain diagnosis:
"Your organization's nervous system is already activated. Let's understand where before we add more change." Organizational stress response parallels individual fight/flight/freeze. Respect the biology.
"Resistance isn't attitude - it's the brain protecting itself from perceived threat." Neuroscience explains what looks like stubbornness. Change the framing, change the response.
"Your organization remembers the last three transformations that didn't deliver. That memory is shaping resistance to this one." Organizational memory creates prediction errors. Acknowledge history before asking for trust.
"Saturation, not fatigue - the system can't absorb more, and that's not anyone's fault." Reframe from personal failure to system capacity. Opens the conversation about sequencing and pacing.
"We're not just redesigning the process - we're designing how people will feel going through it." Workflow design is experience design. Emotional reality shapes adoption.
"Cynicism in your organization isn't a culture problem - it's a neurology problem. People have learned that their input doesn't matter." De-personalize resistance. Create conditions where psychological safety can rebuild.
"What does success look like for your average employee, not just the executive team?" Distributed organizations need distributed definitions of success.
"Data architecture IS governance architecture - whether you designed it that way or not." Your systems encode authority. Make it visible and intentional.
Influences & Inspirations
I don't work in isolation. My methodology synthesizes from credible, diverse sources across domains:
Behavioral Science & Change Management
Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy Vice Chairman, Author of "Alchemy")
"The problem with logic is it kills off magic."
Taught me that psychological reframing creates more value than technical optimization alone. Logic gets you to "good enough." Magic gets you to "worth doing."
Wikipedia →Melanie Franklin & PEPE® Model (Sparkling Performance)
Neuroscience-based change management framework. Explains why smart people resist obviously beneficial changes - their brains treat uncertainty as a survival threat. The four domains (Pain, Energy, Peaks/Valleys, Error Detection) map directly onto organizational transformation challenges.
Neuroscience for Change Course →Ed Pike & Irrational Change
Behavioural Science applied to organizational change. Surfaces the gap between what people say they'll do and what they actually do when systems change.
Irrational Change →Self-Managing Organizations
Corporate Rebels (Joost Minnaar & Pim de Morree)
Demonstrated that distributed authority isn't utopian theory - it scales successfully across industries when designed intentionally. Their research on pioneering organizations provided the governance frameworks I apply in data architecture.
Corporate Rebels →Jana Werner & Phil Le-Brun ("Become an Octopus Organization", Harvard Business Review, 2025)
Validated the shift from "Factory" (rigid hierarchy) to "Octopus" (distributed intelligence). Neuro-clusters in each arm = authority at the point of action. This is what I build through Workflow Architecture.
HBR Article →Futures Thinking
Nick Foster
Futures taxonomy that distinguishes "could/should/might/don't" scenarios. Essential for strategic foresight - helps organizations understand the difference between prediction (what will happen) and preparation (what might happen that we should be ready for).
Ken Liu
Science fiction as futures methodology. Speculative fiction reveals assumptions about technology, culture, and human coordination that strategic planning documents miss.
Economics & Systems Thinking
Paul Schenderling ("Er is leven na de groei")
Post-growth economics. Relevant for organizations facing market saturation or regulatory constraints - how do you create value when scaling isn't an option?
Jelleke de Nooy van Tol
Economic systems thinking applied to organizational design.
Roxanne van Iperen
Historical perspective on institutional resilience and adaptation.
Adam Curtis ("HyperNormalisation", Documentary, 2016)
How systems become too complex to understand, and what happens when we pretend they still make sense. Essential viewing for anyone working in large-scale transformation.
HyperNormalisation →Work & Productivity
"How a Soviet miner from the 1930s helped create today's intense corporate workplace culture" (The Conversation)
Historical roots of toxic productivity. Understanding how we got here helps us design better systems going forward.
Article →Venture Capital & Technology
Cyan Banister
Early-stage investor perspective on what makes technology adoption succeed or fail. Informs my thinking on when AI is genuinely helpful vs when it's solving the wrong problem.
cyanbanister.com →Technical Education
MIT xPRO (AI Product & Service Design)
Formal training in AI systems architecture, product design, and implementation strategy. Grounds my work in technical reality, not vendor marketing.
HeadWindProjects operates as an architectural practice for complex systems—where emerging technologies, governance, and value creation intersect, before systems harden and options narrow.