François Walgering, founder of Next Learning Valley: "We want to create the wave"

Next Learning Valley was founded eight years ago by two inspired entrepreneurs: Jos Maassen and François Walgering. In this blog, current owner François looks back on these eight years and looks ahead to the future of his field of Learning & Development.

Can you talk a little more about growing into the entrepreneur you are today?

"I worked in the Department of Defense for 20 years. There I held a lot of positions. I have been deployed six times, to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, among others, I have worked in the weapons instruction group within Corps of Commando Troops (KCT), and I have always been involved in training and development throughout my military career. On several occasions I have been in a position where ownership and initiative were paramount. Even though they didn't call it that within the Department of Defense, actually I was already partially engaged in entrepreneurship.

During my last position at Defense, I got in touch with Jos. He was keen to second people within Defense. We soon found out that we had a shared passion for innovation and for training and development. We shared the idea that what was there at that time we could easily optimize. The conversation was very enthusiastic. After a month, Jos called again and said he had a plan. He wanted to start a company together with me. I said good plan, let's do it. A week later we were in the car to England, and during that trip to our partner, Next Learning Valley was born.

If you want to start as an organization, you need a windfall. If you have a client that generates some pennies, then you can move on. We had that fluke with our first client, which allowed us to fund ourselves. That's how we got started on our dream of helping businesses and people move forward, of innovating and leading the way."

What distinction do you want to make in the Learning & Development industry?

"What I would like to see is what we talk about actually doing. Everyone is talking about learning with chatbots, we are going to do it. Everyone is talking about data, machine learning and AI, we need to be the first to start working on that and show that it can be deployed in an organization. We want to create the wave. It is easier to ride along with what is already there, but we are looking a lot at innovations, that what we believe in.

We were one of the first with Learning Analytics and data. At first we were a voice in the desert, now it has become commonplace. We have become a conversation partner. All that effort we put into it over the past few years is now paying off. We are also doing a lot of Skills-based Learning; learning based on skills you need. If these skills are formulated at the departmental level and accepted by employees, there is a good chance they will be adopted throughout the department. We are always looking for mature companies that are open to this and ready for innovation."

What opportunities and threats do you see for the coming year in the industry?

"I see great opportunities in the area of data. By using data, you can personalize learning and automate the processes around learning. There are so many processes that take a lot of time. If we automate those, we can free up time to guide participants. Another opportunity is the integration of learning and working. It's a topic we've been talking about for a long time. Learning is everywhere and you name it, but when we really look into reality, we see room for improvement. And now that technology has reached the point where we can improve this is becoming more and more visible. I just mentioned it, but Skills-based Learning is also a big opportunity because it's growing. Mobility in an organization is important. Easing that mobility by getting people up and running quickly on a different position within the same organization, that's a really nice challenge.

Threats? I'm optimistic. I only see opportunities."

What valuable lessons did you continue to learn?

"I learned a lot of valuable lessons. One I want to emphasize: If you want to be successful, you have to work hard. And hard work is not a negative thing in the field of entrepreneurship. A lot of people want to become entrepreneurs but don't want to work hard for it. They tell a lot, but there is a discrepancy between telling and behavior. You really have to work to achieve something. Jos and I often discuss with each other what we want in the coming time. If it remains just talk and you don't link behavior to it then it remains a wish. The Ministry of Defense is also a doer's world. If you want to run harder, you have to train harder. It's as simple as that. The same applies to my personal life. If you want to achieve something in your relationship or in your group of friends, that doesn't come naturally either. That too is work. And again, not in a negative way."

What topic do you prefer to talk about (outside of L&D)?

"Then I'm quiet, haha. What I really like is traveling with my girlfriend and sports is a big part of my life. Society is an interesting topic of conversation; how things happen, then I try to find the logic behind that. When we talk about hot topics like corona I find it interesting how people think."

What is your favorite moment of the day?

"When I get up. Then I may again. I certainly don't have a morning mood. We are doing great things with Next Learning Valley and I feel like getting to work every day to continue building."

If you had the attention of the whole world for 15 seconds, what would you say?

"Then I'm not going to talk about Next Learning Valley. Then it would be the general message: Love one another. Having done six deployments myself, I have a picture of how things can be done differently than in the Netherlands. Respect each other, that is the basis. I don't have the illusion that if I say that people should love each other, everyone will immediately be hugging each other, but that would be something I would like to contribute to."

Would you like to follow François and his adventure as a Learning Innovator? Then connect with François on LinkedIn.