Transforming Work with Sophie Wade 121: Daan van Rossum - Asking ‘What If’ at Work: Intentional Orientation and AI Augmentation
Daan van Rossum is Founder and CEO of FlexOS where they are building a 21st Century work experience that enables people to learn, grow, connect, and thrive at work. He also hosts and runs the “Lead with AI” podcast, course, and community. Daan shares his tech-driven early education and jobs that underpin his emphasis on AI and integrating AI teammates and advisors effectively. He explains his proactive career steps working internationally, developing cultural understanding and tapping into ‘What If’ creative energy to achieve more fulfilling work experiences. Daan describes his learning journey and how we can all intentionally engage in meaningful work and achieve greater happiness.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:28] At 15 years old, Daan decides he prefers working to being at school.
[03:17] Daan persuades his parents and the government and gets an exception to leave school.
[04:22] Daan begins his career at an ISP help desk then an early online food delivery business.
[05:59] After producing a family ‘newspaper’, Daan’s online help page gets attention and lands him a digital media job.
[09:13] The transition to Ogilvy is motivated by a desire to land a ‘real job’!
[09:54] After moving to New York, Daan wins an internal talent competition asking ‘What If?’
[12:36] Daan makes proactive internal moves at Ogilvy to Chicago, then Singapore.
[14:00] Using his strategist skills, Daan transitions internationally learning about local cultures.
[15:15] Daan is entranced by Vietnam’s young society and optimistic, high energy.
[16:20] How Singapore developed fast integrating behavioral psychology nudges.
[16:53] Daan moves to Vietnam and discovers the two-world experiences of young employees.
[19:17] Co-founding a venture, Daan focuses on workplace happiness, fulfillment, and wellbeing through storytelling and courses.
[22:13] Daan studies wide-ranging topics relating to happiness, psychology, leadership, and more.
[23:13] The happiness-related content business is not viable in a developing market.
[23:55] The monetizable model integrating well-being content into coworking spaces.
[25:54] Key learnings about happiness to incorporate into DreamPlex's workplace offerings.
[31:16] Ensuring services align with what Gen Zers want in Vietnam.
[33:00] A 4-month pandemic lockdown in Vietnam affects Dream Plex and how they got through it.
[34:55] The challenges of hybrid working models in Vietnam compared to Singapore which was highly-digitized before 2020.
[38:35] Transitioning from agricultural to professional work settings and trust issues at work.
[42:10] The opportunity to align personal goals with organizational needs.
[43:15] The importance of intentionality in career and life decisions, especially now.
[45:30] Creating happier, productive workplaces by listening to employees and optimizing workflows.
[48:15] Self-awareness surfaces personal work preferences allowing alignment with job roles.
[52:20] Understanding how companies work reduces misunderstandings and misplaced entitlements.
[53:45] Optimizing time at work and using AI to not waste valuable hours.
[55:40] AI as your senior advisor, especially when no one else is around!
[56:15] How/what kids are learning differently now and AI’s potential future role/integration.
[58:12] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To improve work experiences, go back to the core. What you are doing and why. Are you doing it well? Do you believe what you are doing is meaningful? Practically, empathize and listen to your team members discovering the joy and toil in their workflows to map out and solve issues together.
RESOURCES
Lead with AI podcast, course, and community
QUOTES
"Could we ask 'What If' more? Instead of trying to focus on all these new channels trying to be innovative. Could we make this even better? So it was really more about the core of creativity and about curiosity."
"You have to find your happiness in the here and now. If you slow down and look around, all your conditions for happiness are already here…Happiness is very makeable. It's not something that either happens to you or you're born with it. It's something you determine almost 100% yourself."
"If two years from today someone makes a movie about your life, what would it be called? What would it be about? What would they showcase as your journey and what you've achieved?"
"There’s this concept called the hedonic treadmill... once you have [achieved a goal], there may be a temporary moment where you feel good. But the deeper sense of happiness has to come from something bigger."
"See AI as a coworker that first and foremost can take over all the parts of your job that you don't like doing and are not getting you closer to your goal."
"AI can start to be a senior advisor. It can be someone that co-creates with you, especially in those moments where you're on your own and need guidance or a second opinion."