Bas van Kesteren

About Bas van Kesteren

For more than 25 years, Bas has been fascinated by group behavior in organizations, as well as outside in society. He brings insights from behavioral science about groups to the workplace and into practice. What drives him is breaking through inhibiting patterns in group dynamics. This passion was born out of frustration, as Bas did not understand groups. His expertise primarily lies in harnessing the collective intelligence of groups, such as in neighborhoods, within organizations, with employees, stakeholders, and any other conceivable group.

With his enterprise, Bas assists organizations in transition, from Backward Thinking to Forward Thinking, with group dynamics as the common thread.

Bas regularly gives public lectures, guest lectures, and inspiration sessions on current themes in groups. Whether it concerns norms, influence, resistance, saying ‘yes’ and doing ‘no’, or our endless opinions. These are phenomena recognizable to everyone when we are part of a group or team. In his lectures, he shows how things can be different. How we can get help from science and how we can apply it in practice. With a touch of humor, challenging sacred cows and breaking patterns, Bas takes the audience to a broader perspective.

You and I experience it every day. The issues in groups and teams. The resistance, the sentiments, the influence, and other dynamics that play an important role in how we collaborate and ‘work together’. We so eagerly want to move forward with the group, but more often than not, it doesn’t work. This is a recurring phenomenon that grips us. Frustration and dissatisfaction are often the outcomes of our meetings, discussions, and gatherings.

And this frustration often leads to less engagement and satisfaction. This not only costs a lot of time but also has a clearly negative impact on productivity and motivation. It can be different, simply by being aware of the behavior of people in the group. We are so often focused on ourselves, our own thoughts and opinions, and on processes and tasks, that we hardly pay attention to group behavior.

What if you gain more knowledge about how groups work? What if you can better recognize what inhibiting group dynamics are? What if you can stimulate the group so that it becomes smarter than the smartest person in the group? What if you start looking at collaboration in groups in a new way?

By recognizing group behavior, having a bit of knowledge of behavioral science, and some tools to give the group or team the right impulse, you can set the group into Forward Thinking mode. From passive to active. From individual to collective. From opinions and judgments to ideas and solutions.

In November 2022, Bas van Kesteren’s book will be released titled: ‘What is Actually Happening Here?’ The book is about what you didn’t know about group behavior but want to know. With a foreword by Chantal van der Leest, Behavioral Psychologist, columnist for AD, and writer.

Bas knows how to translate complex material into practice in an accessible way. Bas asks questions we are not used to asking and challenges sacred cows. In a light-hearted, humorous manner, Bas interacts with the audience about our behavior in groups, leaving the visitor with new knowledge and food for thought.