Human Innovation | The Jens Heitland Show
Human Innovation explores leadership where decisions, responsibility, and scale intersect.
Hosted by Jens Heitland, CEO of Heitland Media Group and former Global Head of Innovation at IKEA Centres, the show features long-form conversations with CEOs and senior leaders from international organizations.
Each episode focuses on how leaders think, decide, and navigate complexity, not just what they have built. The conversations move beyond surface level success stories to examine judgment, trade offs, and the human realities of leadership at scale.
© All Content 2020-2025 - The Jens Heitland Show - Produced by Heitland Media Group
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EP 69: The simplicity of innovation in the fitness industry
In this episode I connect the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship together with Edouard Leeuwenburg the Managing Director of the One Fit the Sports Club Network with 1,000+ locations throughout the Netherlands. Edouard shares his personal growth story and we discover the challenges of the fitness industry inside the pandemic and how he and his team navigate and innovate with simplicity.
EP 68 : Culture change through Event Design
In this episode I connect the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship together with Anthony Vade who is telling about his story moving from Australia to Canada and how growing up with a screwdriver in his hand enabled him to be one of the highest ranked event designers in America.
EP 67: Innovate through curiosity
In this episode I connect the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship around the topic or curiosity. Debora Labusch, Ulrike Spang Lessnow , Mercedes Vidal and I explore what curiosity is for us, how it can be used to foster innovation and how companies can stimulate curiosity in their employees.
EP 66 : Building Culture with Mindfulness
In this episode we connect the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship through mindfulness. Stacy Conlon shares her story on how she came into mindfulness worked in large companies and is now using the power of the mind to support people and companies to do so too.
EP 65: The Reverse Mentor Lab
This is another XYZ Playground edition where I meet with Joshua Nuttall to explore how leaders of today can learn from the leaders of tomorrow. In this Episode we give a little sneak peek behind the curtain of The Reverse Mentor Lab our new Video Podcast that we released.
EP 64 : Human Agility
In this episode we connect the dots of innovation through the story of Nast Marrero, how he grew from being an Artist to be Business Agility Coach for one of the biggest toy companies in the world. We deep dive into exploring the difference between agile and Agile.
EP 63: The Story of the XYZ Playground
This is another XYZ Playground edition where I meet with Joshua Nuttall to explore how leaders of today can learn from the leaders of tomorrow. In this Episode we share how the XYZ Playground came along and why we did the prototype on this podcast.
EP 62: Innovate theleisureway
In this episode we connect the dots of innovation through the story of Gastón Gaitán, how he developed from working with his Father selling Football tables, running an Entertainment Bar to get to be one of the world leading experts in leisure concepts.
EP 61: Innovation in Event Design
Innovation in Event Design - Ruud Janssen on playing Alphorn, Building the Event Design Collective, Creative Commons and More.
EP 60: Innovation and sustainability in the built environment
In this Episode I meet with David Johnson where he tells the stories of how he developed his expertise over time. We explore how he facilitates the innovation culture around biophilic design in the teams in SERA Architects, his passion for Climate Change, and a new innovative way to accelerate investments in regenerative technologies with a SPAC (Special-purpose acquisition company) and more.
EP 58: The superpowers of innovation
In this Episode I meet with Dennis Luijer, Joshua Nuttall and Werner Puchert and we explore the superpowers of innovation, what they could be and how they could be used
EP 57: Acceleration of Organic Cotton
In this Episode I meet with Ruud Schute where he shares his growth story within the Supply Chain of the Cotton industry and why he changed to be Program Director of the Organic Cotton Accelerator based in the Netherlands
EP 56: Engaging with young thinkers
Engaging with young thinkers - XYZ Playground Edition - with Joshua Nuttall on how organisations can engage with young thinkers
EP 55: The need for innovation
In this Episode I meet with Debora Labusch, Ulrike Spang Lessnow and Mercedes Vidal and we explore innovation in different phases of organisations, forced change from the outside and how you innovate with your teams.
EP 54: Follow your passion wearing different hats
In this Episode I meet with Declan Mc Laughlin where he shares his story and the way he works with his own business while working for his own business and what he learns from other entrepreneurs as Chapter Director of Start-Up-Grind in Edinburgh.
Ep 53: Innovation in Education
Connecting the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship with David Bassuk.
David Bassuk is the Professor of Theater Arts at the State University of New York, Purchase College, and the Creative Director of White Horse Immersive.
Ep 52: Creating engagement in Organisations
Today's topic is: Connecting and creating engagement in Organisations.
Ep 51: Testify the way you should test
Connecting the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship with Dan Burns.
Testifi offers cutting edge test automation tools and services to massively speed up the process of large-scale software delivery in enterprise applications.
Ep 50: Innovation in footwear - Joe Nimble
Connecting the dots of innovation and entrepreneurship with Sebastian Baer.
Sebastian is the shoe pioneer and inventor of the Functional Footwear design concept.
Ep 49: Learning and connecting in a digital world
Today's discussion is all around Learning and connecting in a digital world