Six Ideas is about people
Our community of independent professionals
is a diverse group of associates from a wide-range of backgrounds,
linked by their collective aim to explore innovative approaches, share ideas
and use their expertise to identify solutions fine-tuned to our clients’ needs.
A graduate of the “Politecnico di Milano” and a Chartered Architect for 21 years, Alessandra is part of DEGW in Milan, where she found her true passion in the Consultancy Team.
Alessandra’s role in DEGW is the link intersecting research and innovation, consultancy and design. Her experience on a world-wide level has given her an understanding of cultural exchange, diversity, internationality and “chemistry” with clients.
She has worked on projects for Microsoft, Amundi, Heineken, Sky etc and each of them have inspired her in many different ways. Working for Microsoft and Sky gave her the opportunity to share her knowledge on new ways of working, along with helping them communicate change to their people.
Approach and Vision
Alessandra enjoys the challenge of being part of a diverse range of projects and organizations by immersing herself in the way they think; taking the best of their organizational culture in order to find ways to make them evolve.
Specialised in analysing organizations, their operations and ways of working; through Workplace Change Management processes (workshops, training sessions, interviews). Alessandra has driven companies towards organizational and spatial changes by redesigning their workplaces with the purpose of helping them develop their business.
Her goal every day is to: “Create a workplace in which people feel and work well"
London-based Anna works for Dutch data collecting/reporting company and Six Ideas partner Measuremen. She is also studying for an MSc in Psychology with a multi-disciplinary background in Politics, Philosophy and Law LLB.
Measuremen’s mission is to improve the working environment by creating insights into the actual use and performance of workplaces with occupancy and utilisation studies, sensor technology, surveys and human behaviour apps. Their clients have included Verizon, Mastercard, HSBC, Amazon, Audible, Microsoft Research, Boston Scientific, AXA, ING, Coca-Cola and the UN amongst others.
Having worked on so many diverse projects across Europe, Anna is a believer that there is no “one-size-fits-all" solution to any situation. This fluid and adaptable approach has enabled her to react to changing environments, as well informing her research and development in Measuremen’s innovative products.
Approach and Vision
Anna strongly believes in aiming to make informed, data-based decisions whenever possible and this is what determines success: ,“Paralysis by analysis is always better than extinct by instinct-data tells a story, we just need to ask the right questions and pay attention.”
Her enthusiasm for improving the work-life balance comes from the holistic understanding that work is central to life’s satisfaction. The realisation that legal policies, political systems or even local communities do not empower individuals to do their best work is what drives her passion in the workplace industry.
Anna is also an artist and believes that ‘chaos breeds creation’. The domains of art and innovation involve working in the unknown. Success in these realms is not a defined by a particular point in time, but as an evolving process in which we strive to be better every day.
Caroline’s vast experience was honed over 30 years at the BT Group, which culminated in the position of Director of People & Policy. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trustee of RSPCA where she Chairs the Animal Welfare committee and VP of Carers UK. She is also the founder of CW Consulting Box, her own strategic HR consultancy business.
She is seen as one of the most influential senior practitioners in the original movement to create new ways of working and a leader of the nascent flexible working agenda in the 1990s. For many years, she actively pioneered homeworking, as well as active employer engagement with government departments.
Caroline regularly contributes advice and guidance to government and industry, as well as being a board member or chair of a wide-ranging variety of employers’ forums and government working groups.
Approach and Vision
Caroline’s expertise is centered around leading-edge people strategies, underpinned by dynamic policies and processes, as well as the promotion of inclusivity and the empowerment of individuals in the workplace.
She provides high-level support and guidance across the private and public sectors, which includes board coaching, business and strategic HR guidance, OD design and flexible working strategies. She also helps people manage career transitions at every level, enabling them to develop skills and realise opportunities successfully.
Her work is widely recognised across the industry and Caroline is consistently placed within the top 3 positions in the annual ‘HR’s Most Influential People’ listings. Establishing herself as a leading voice across industry and government for inclusion, equal opportunities and progressive employment, she was awarded an OBE in 2010 in recognition for her services.
Founder/Director of Six Ideas Ltd., CEO of BBC Commercial Projects, Head of the BBC Corporate Real Estate, VP of The Walt Disney Company’s Corporate Real Estate.
Chris’ 30-year career in CRE and workplace strategy has included overseeing the BBC’s £2bn property portfolio regeneration to deliver a fit-for-purpose estate using the Corporation’s decade-long ‘analogue to digital’ transformation, as a catalyst for organisational change. This also involved masterminding the foundations of new innovative and creative media, business and residential quarters in White City, London and Salford, Manchester.
He is also the author of the book “Where is My Office? Reimagining the Workplace for the 21st Century”, published by Bloomsbury, which presents a game-changing challenge to the existing ways we work. As well as being a guide to harnessing the true potential of an organisation’s people and workplace.
Approach and Vision
Once a Chartered Surveyor, Chris has seen both sides of the landlord and tenant spectrum, which has convinced him that the status quo has to change.
He uses his insights and change management experience to help people see the link between work, the workforce and the workplace. This fundamental change has been enabled by the advances in technology and has facilitated the shift from fixed to fluid working environments.
Chris is focused on making the best use of the built environment in order to leave a better legacy for the generations that follow us.
The founder of Munich-based Architektur Kommunikation since 1998, Christina has also worked at leading architect practice HENN. She has also lived and worked in different European cities, as well studying in the USA.
Christina has had a great deal of experience in consultancy and change management which includes Cisco Europe during its pioneering years, Infineon, BMW, Mercedes and projects for Amazon.
Through her work, teaching and guest professorships, she is a keen advocate of the relationship between, organization and place, architecture and society – with a deep understanding of how the interconnection of space and social value can interact to help create a better environment for all.
Approach and Vision
Christina is a great believer that design should serve people and provide opportunities to understand one another better by working together and not creating borders, just respecting boundaries.
Her approach is to understand not just the problem but also its context in the scheme of things; she tries to integrate intuition with expertise, analysis and empathy while trying to find the solution.
Christina finds Mahatma Gandhi´s much quoted “be the change you want to see in the world" a great inspiration. She finds it “helps with every level of collaboration, by taking responsibility, because I believe everything starts inside”. As for design, she finds Mies van der Rohe´s works, particularly his later buildings inspiring for their ‘rare purity and clarity’. Her understanding of his work underpinned by her working with his grandson Dirk Lohan in Chicago.
London-based director of Emma Wharton-Love Consulting, which specialises in major property change, estate and workplace strategy and brief development. She is also a director of Wharton Studio, a boutique graphic design, art direction and production studio.
Emma has worked and advised across the private and public sector at major consultancies and institutions including a number of projects for the UK’s Houses of Parliament, including the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme, leading work on the relocation of the Houses of Parliament, and more recently their post-Covid-19 return to work.
Emma headed up Smart Working Standards for the Government’s Property Unit and Strategic Forward Construction Planning at the Cabinet Office.
Approach and Vision
A career highlight was being part of a small group which set up the restoration programme of Parliament, a project replete with historical and political significance. For Emma, Churchill’s statement of "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us" took on added importance, in terms of how the shape of parliament impacts the UK’s democracy.
Emma is also a graphic designer, combining an unusual blend of business and creative skills. This means her approach to solving problems is inspired by 'design thinking', which is iterative and seeks to understand users, while challenging assumptions.
She is also a big fan of the four-day week and a believer that the right balance of work. family life, exercise, rest and play are central to a productive and innovative economy.
Euan has been a leader and an influencer in the ever-changing field of digital technology for two decades. His consultancy has enabled him to work around the world with a wide range of organizations including The World Bank, The European Commission, NATO, BP, KPMG, E&Y and Volvo.
As an early adopter of social media Euan implemented one of the world’s first enterprise social network systems inside the BBC. He also founded BBC DigiLab, a department whose purpose was to help the BBC understand new technologies across the range of its activities and make better decisions about their use and implementation.
Euan is also the author of “Organizations Don't Tweet, People Do: A Manager's Guide to the Social Web”, published by Wiley. A practical guide, insight and inspiration into how organizations can harness the power of the web and social media.
Additionally he has spent the last two years driving large HGVs around the UK and Europe, gaining valuable insights into the worlds of logistics, property building, maintenance and the prospects of automation in those fields.
Approach and Vision
Euan has been lucky enough to meet and stay in touch with the inventors of the internet, the web, RSS and even the hashtag! He believes that we are at the very early stages of understanding the impact of these technologies on the way we live and work and is passionate about the possibilities of putting them to good use.
He calls on his broad and varied range of experiences when he works with clients, to help expand their thinking about digital transformation in all its forms and to ensure that they end up doing the right things for the right reasons.
George has been learning and developing his expertise through an extensive 27-year journey within IKEA and as the CEO and Founder of Swedish-based advisory company Udal Cuain AB in Helsingborg.
George helped establish IKEA’s retail business in Eastern Europe, China and Russia. He also founded the company’s original digital DNA, by developing their digital architecture. His work there also extended to business process and people and culture (HR), before leading the programme to ‘visualise the future IKEA workplace’.
Post-IKEA, George has built both the business and people strategy for a future ‘unicorn’ in the USA and Australia. He also holds talks and workshops around the world on a variety of topics encompassing the future of work and banking, ethical issues of AI and workplace wellbeing.
Approach and Vision
George is also futurist with a passion for igniting ideas, on the practical implementations of the digital revolution and how Ethics, Communities and Artificial Intelligence will impact our lives.
Comments on his breadth of mind and scope on one of his webinars include: “Interesting thoughts that go through your mind. My thoughts were that you had just so much knowledge in that head of yours! “
For George, simplicity is a virtue, and his main focus is taking a complex problem and providing a clear, simple solution.
Director of Six Ideas Ltd., Transformation/Customer Experience Manager, Global RE & Facilities at Zurich Insurance, Change Manager at Dyson, Sustainability Manager for Swiss Post Solutions UK Ltd.
Max has helped corporate multinationals, government, learning and healthcare institutions, right through to smaller scale start-ups looking to accelerate organisational strategies aligned with the changing nature of work.
She has been a Customer Experience and Change/Communications lead in Six Ideas’ ‘Our Place’ program for Amazon – a strategy for transforming their corporate offices in EMEA.
Approach and Vision
Max is a systems’ thinker and behaviour change expert, who is also a passionate community builder – with an MSc in Sustainable Development, Max seeks to develop a sustainable and purposeful future for all.
Her work is guided by a deep theoretical understanding and practical application of the triggers and levers affecting changes in human behaviour, supported by multi-dimensional communication and engagement approaches.
Max is inspired by Mother Teresa’s quote “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” and is a great believer in ‘The sum is always greater than the parts, so let us work together’.
Director of UK-based consultancy EEAM Ltd., former Consulting Director at Turner & Townsend. Michael has an Honours Degree in Building Services Engineering and a Masters in Intelligent Buildings.
In a 25 year journey in workplace and facilities management Michael has played key roles in a wide range of projects including; an EMEA-wide workplace strategy for Amazon, a global FM procurement for Unilever, a global lease management roll-out for Zurich Insurance and the delivery of the UK Government’s Home Office HQ – described at the time as the “best prepared major change project”.
Approach and Vision
Still learning, Michael is excited by the possibilities and challenges facing an industry attempting to realise value through digitalisation.
Michael’s strengths include his ability to simplify objectives and see the picture in the jigsaw pieces; he is most effective working in diverse teams, delivering outcomes greater than the sum of the parts.
Enthused by complex projects and motivated clients, Michael says: “I have been fortunate to work with clients who were prepared to challenge the accepted norms, and I'm happy to say some of that has rubbed off”.
He also notes that: “In 25 years I have rarely, if ever delivered two identical projects. I believe that experience doesn't give you the answers, just the knack of asking the right questions at the right time”.
Founder/Director of Six Ideas US LLC, former Global Consulting Lead at Woods Bagot and HOK, former Regional Consulting Lead for JLL
Steve is an industry leader in the areas of real estate and workplace consulting with in-depth experience in the deployment of workplace strategies for global corporations - practicing in four key markets (Houston, New York, Mexico City, San Francisco) and delivering work in over 20 countries across all regions, including partnering with Shell on their first global workplace strategy programme.
He joined the exploding tech scene in 1995 in the San Francisco Bay Area just as the practice of workplace was being defined by early adopters like Sun Microsystems and has continued to focus on this sector. Steve also worked on Microsoft's Workplace Advantage Initiative, this initial version formed the foundation of Microsoft’s global workplace strategy for the past decade.
Approach and Vision
Steve has developed a strong client-based perspective, adept in grounding strategies and solutions to the needs of the business while leveraging a strong foundation in architecture, design, real estate planning and operations. The most important aspect for Steve is cultivating a true partnership with his clients, ensuring quality results – never an ‘us and them’ - always a ‘we’.
Good ideas and practices can cross industry and market lines, and Steve pulls from knowledge of high-tech, telecom, insurance, finance, pharma, bioscience, media, academic, cultural, legal, aviation, defence, and governmental experiences.
Not a pre-packaged solutions guy, Steve believes that each organization’s challenge is unique and solutions must be tailored to address where they are on their particular path to where they need to be – it’s in the journey, not necessarily the destination.
Based in Berlin, Udo is an internationally experienced workplace consultant and certified systemic business coach. This is underpinned by a decade working for world-leading architectural firm HOK and a 3-year role as Senior Space Planner for Nokia in Europe.
His expertise spans workplace services, space planning, business and career coaching, change and professional crisis management; which are all approached with a creative solution-focused mindset.
Udo has undertaken the recent project management of Babbel’s HQ in Berlin, including its workplace and change management strategies. For his workplace project with pme Familienservice, which provides social services as company incentives, he introduced flexible and diverse work settings to get everyone to work together as one team.
At Nokia, Udo consolidated and took care of their real estate portfolio, he was also responsible for planning and updating their Berlin campus, a centre with over 900 people.
Approach and Vision
For Udo working in new ways means looking into ways of meeting people’s needs and expectations, new behavioural patterns and different ways of communication and collaboration. This is complemented by his coaching experience in systemic business and additional training in gender and sexual diversity issues in the workplace.
Udo believes that there is no recipe or ‘one size fits all’ solution in establishing the right working environment. The most important discussion a leader can have with their team is not where, when and how - but rather, why?
His inspiration for embracing change lies in Heraclitus’ words "Nothing is as constant as change"