Dear visitor,
I have a passion for innovation, I love the insurance industry and my mission is to make the combination work ever better.
My name is Christof de Winter. I am 49 years old and live near Utrecht, the Netherlands, with my partner Elsa, our daughter Yinthe, and our dog Yara.
For 17 years, I worked in insurance innovation as a practitioner, manager, coach, and strategist. I worked with innovation boards, leaders, and teams in 11 countries. I managed, collaborated with and coached hundreds of fantastic, talented innovators working on all kinds of great innovations.
Even so, I sometimes got frustrated as the full potential of insurance innovation too often went unrealized. Over the years, I focused more and more on improving the success odds for all types of insurance innovation, from the incremental to the radical.
“I had the pleasure of experiencing Christof as a smart and charming student in our HSG Executive Diploma Program in Insurance Management. I really appreciated his eye for the essentials and he enriched the discussions with his creative ideas. His extremely successful final thesis on innovation management was honoured with the highest grade.”
Dr. Marco Allenspach
Executive director CIM – HSG Competence in Insurance Management, University of Sankt Gallen.
My long road to improvement can be your shortcut
I discovered and developed effective strategies that turned innovation obstacles into opportunities. I gathered a lot of first-hand experience, not only about whether something works but also in what circumstances it works best.
I wanted to make these and other insights more broadly available, so in 2023, I established myself as an independent insurance innovation management consultant. That is how Leapfrog Innovation was born.
years of insurance innovation experience
countries
innovation projects
members of our internal innovation community
Two partners, one vision: Leapfrog Innovation and Innovation360®
Innovation360® is an organisation with a unique approach to innovation management consulting that aligns closely with the beliefs I developed in my practice (see below). They offer world-class data and tooling to complement my expertise. Therefore, I joined their worldwide network of 250+ innovation consultants and became a Green Belt Licensed Practitioner.
InnoSurvey®
I can conduct the Innovation360® InnoSurvey®, which many clients consider an excellent starting point for upgrading their innovation systems. It is simply the world’s number one innovation assessment methodology.
“Christof has seen innovation and insurance from many different perspectives. That is why he can uniquely understand and connect with various stakeholders- board members, managers, partners, startups, or practitioners. He is also adept at connecting the strategic to the practical and vice versa. His customer focus, passion for purpose, and open communication all help align diverse interests around a common cause.”
Jeroen Kemperman
Senior Manager Strategy & Business Development, Zilveren Kruis
About my services
Innovation strategy design
where I help you establish and communicate your innovation aspiration, including which markets to win and which assets to leverage.
Innovation strategy execution
where I help you harness your strategic intent so it enforces and informs the hard choices in your innovation management
Proposition Development
where I help your team(s) develop deep insight into your target market, generate a wealth of original ideas and cluster them into concrete concepts with market-dominating potential.
How I work with clients
Clients and peers frequently describe my way of working as
Creatively conceptual
I am thoroughly familiar with the leading innovation schools of thought. I am also an original and critical thinker looking for exceptions that prove the rule. Your solution will never be copy-paste but always tailored.
Expertly empirical
I always check interpretations crafted with frameworks and experience, and my recommendations are always grounded in first-hand observations and data, increasing their credibility and acceptance across your organisation.
Profoundly practical
The lasting impact of any intervention requires stakeholder buy-in and simple, robust implementation that holds up, even in hectic times. From day one, I work to deliver exactly that.
I designed my interventions to be fast and minimally disruptive, limiting the scope of change to what really needs to be changed.
The “why” behind Leapfrog Innovation
The role of insurance has always been to empower society to manage risks, thus organising solidarity and (literally) underwriting societal progress.
In a world of accelerating change, existing risks become more volatile and new ones rapidly emerge. Just think of themes like AI proliferation, cyber risks, and the escalating disruptions associated with climate change. These will impact the lives of more and more people, irrespective of who they are and where they live. The role of insurance is becoming more important and more challenging at the same time.
Therefore, every time insurance innovation is more successful, society wins. I’ve made it my mission to help make that a reality.
But why the name Leapfrog Innovation?
- It means to “jump” from from a lagging to a leading position in markets
- It also means to skip certain stages of technology or innovation maturity
- Leapfrog is a children’s game, linking innovation to playfulness
- It symbolizes my love for nature and environmental awareness
Leapfrog is for you when you are
Ambitious
You are ambitious to improve your innovation
Open for learning
Your company is open to continuous learning
Willing to co-create
You are willing to co-create and co-implement solutions
Let’s Connect
If you’ve made it this far, I can tell you’re genuinely interested, and there’s a good chance I can help you.
Click the button to schedule a complimentary strategy call so we can discuss your ambitions and challenges. I will provide you with advice and you can see if we’re a good fit.