Six Fingers discovers, researches and develops new perspectives on your future together with you

We are architects of the future. We help our clients to leave the beaten path and take the road less travelled by. This involves us designing ‘construction drawings’ of the future in the form of strategies, products, services and start-ups. We distinguish ourselves by our practice-oriented and co-creation based way of working. Methods that are part of our way of working include trend research, user research and Design Thinking. And the techniques we developed ourselves: Painstorming and Branchmarking©.

More about how we innovate

What do you choose?

You aiming for improvement or innovation?

Optimising existing organisation

Designing future perspectives

Optimising existing organisation

Improvement through optimisation of returns from the existing business model. As long as there is demand for your product, daily improvement contributes to this. But if another solution enters the market that is better than your solution, then your organisation will soon be surplus to requirements. For a sustainable future, it is then essential that both improvement and innovation are given the attention they deserve. We help our clients with the latter of these.

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Designing future perspectives

Realising innovation demands different methods and techniques than those used for improvement. It requires an organisation that focuses on searching for and developing earnings power instead of execution of the existing model. Setting up experiments. And in which the result is not Return on Investment, but Return on Learning.

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What do you choose?

Going for benchmarking or branchmarking?

Looking within your own sector

The world as source of inspiration

Looking within your own sector

Benchmarking does not make you a leader, but rather a follower. If you want to lead the pack, then that won't happen if you keep driving in another man’s tracks. As Chan and Mauborgne wrote in 2003 in The Blue Ocean: ‘To grow, companies need to break out of vicious cycle of competitive benchmarking and imitation.’

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The world as source of inspiration

What do Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Salvador Dali have in common? They didn’t create, but combined. Someone somewhere has already discovered a solution to the problem you want to solve. Probably developed in a different context or in another sector, but the solution exists. Use the world as a source of inspiration!

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What do you choose?

Going for brainstorming or painstorming?

Thinking up ideas

Developing solutions

Thinking up ideas

Brilliant execution of a casual idea leads nowhere. There are too many products that fail simply because they don't solve any pain. A solution without pain sets nothing in motion. Brainstorms or away-days are too often organised so that ideas fly across the table, while it is completely unclear what particular pain actually needs to be softened or eliminated. And that is pointless if you genuinely want to innovate.

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Developing solutions

Pain is one of the greatest human motivators. In the real world, things are born of frustration or love. It is very fulfilling to diagnose pain, as this allows you to work on a solution. You can now take steps to change people's lives, and to provide valuable innovation. The importance of painstorming is crystal clear: if you are not aware of the pain you are solving, you are busy looking for a solution that no one needs. This means it’s not a real solution, but just remains an idea.

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Going on adventure with our clients for 13 years

We design new perspectives for organisations in very diverse branches. Working in a cross-sectoral way has been our belief since our founding in 2006. We see on a daily basis how much the different branches can learn from each other. We are currently working, for instance, on an alternative financial system for farming, future forms of energy and the role of urban mobility in 2025.

Dutch Design Week

Design new forms for democracy.

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EADA Barcelona

Educating international innovation talent of the future.

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Sigma Coatings

Develop a pioneering new business model for the painters market.

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United Nations

Making an impact on cities with social design

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Our portfolio includes companies like…

We work for clients in many different sectors, with diverse issues in the area of innovation. This diversity of branches ensures we have a wide array of insights that result in cross-pollination among our clients.