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an inspiration to me by being such an attentive and caring person. Even with the busy life she has, she will
always express a token of appreciation or warmth at any occasion.
In this regard, I would also like to mention my best friend Flor Avelino, who is one of my paranymphs. Next to
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utterly grateful for having her as my close friend. Her curiosity, authenticity, warmth and passion are just a few
things I love about her. Consider for instance the following: at one point in time, she made me a PhD discovery
box, with all kinds of treats inside ± be it chocolate, bathing oil, Groupon tickets for a Japanese restaurant.
These things have kept me going , when the going got rough.
Many more friends have supported me, inspiring me by being such great personalities and friends. You know
who you are, and I hope you realize how grateful I am for having each one of you in my life. The same holds
for family members of myself and Marcel whom I have not mentioned. Thank you very much for giving me
space to work on my PhD (even during family gatherings) and supporting me along the way.
This PhD endeavor actually started out as part of my job as a consultant at Strategy Works/Strategy Academy.
My former colleagues have inspired me to set off on this route and introduced me to the notion of paradoxical
thinking in strategic management. I would especially like to mention Wolter Lemstra, who worked closely with
Strategy Works/Strategy Academy. I came to know him as a person with utter integrity. Without asking
anything in return he stood by me out of pure interest and out of the wish to help his younger colleagues. He is
the manifestation of what it means to be human-kind!
I would also like to thank my current employer, Rebel. I have started to work for Rebel in June 2010. Although
the job switch was somewhat unlucky in terms of the phase of the PhD trajectory I was in, the environment and
the people have been most inspiring and refreshing. Working with such a bunch of entrepreneurial and
intrinsically motivated Rebels brings joy to every day of work. Next to that, they have supported me and
offered a very flexible environment which was essential in order to finish this dissertation. And lastly, many
other organizations and individuals have supported me in gathering more data or referring me to the right
person to talk to. Thank you all very much!
And yet, a reflection on myself. People sometimes ask me, ³in hindsight would you do it all over again? ́ And I
would say: ³yes, definitely ́ Writing a PhD is such a multifaceted challenge, that it provides a stretch in all
kinds of different directions. At many points in time you are confronted with your own personality. In a sense,
writing this PhD has allowed me deep insights in my own behavior and thoughts. Not only insights, but writing
this PhD has contributed to the very acceptance of myself. It allowed me to become more and more myself. As
you may realize writing this PhD has been quite a memorable experience for me. I hope you will enjoy it!