Paul Iske is professor at the School of Business and Economics, University Maastricht, Netherlands, focusing on Open Innovation and Business Venturing. Paul founded the ‘Institute of Brilliant Failures’ (www.brilliantfailures.com), with the mission to highlight the importance of experimentation to achieve paradigm shifts and breakthrough innovation.

Paul is also known as ‘Chief Failure Officer’ of the Institute of Brilliant Failures (www.brilliantfailures.com), with the mission to stimulate the acceptance and learning from things that didn’t work out the ay they were expected or hoped for.

Paul has a special interest in designing environments (combination of physical, virtual and social/organisatorial components), supporting the development and application of Intellectual, Social and/or Economic Capital. General theme in Paul’s professional interests and activities is value creation by ‘smart entrepreneurship’ or ‘intelligent innovation’, which combines innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge management and collaboration. As ‘Consulting Challenger’ he invites his clients to make the extra step and to look beyond the obvious. Via his board-room consultancy practice KnocoM (www.knocom.com), founded in 2002, he supports organisations in the development and implementation of programs focusing on leveraging knowledge as a strategic production factor. He is a frequent speaker on international conferences

Since 2020, Paul is Chairman of the Foundation Personalised Healthcare Catalyst
(www.phc-catalyst.nl), which emerged from a multi-disciplinary alliance of experts with the mission to accelerate the transition towards personalized healthcare, with focus on stimulating the development of a receptive environment.

In 2019, Paul co-founded the No-Boundaries Academy (www.noboundariesacademy.com), which uses the method of Combinatoric Innovation and stimulates International exchange, e.g. via Study Tours, exposure of entrepreneurs to new markets, supporting a climate for experimentation, accepting and learning from (brilliant) failures. With a focus on connecting countries like South Korea and the Netherlands.

Since 2017, Paul is also member of the International team of the Stanford Peace Innovation Lab (https://peaceinnovation.stanford.edu/), a global community consisting of thought leaders from the fields of behavior design, innovation, persuasive and social technologies and finance, with the aim to increase positive peace via real world interventions as well as urban-scale innovations.  

Since 2016, he is Chief Science Officer at PNA Group (www.pna-group.com), a Dutch company that has developed a world standard for knowledge-based working (CogNIAM). PNA lays the foundation for a shared knowledge position, which is indispensable in innovation.

Since 2015, Paul is member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics (http://www.d-itp.nl/), connecting the world Theoretical Physics to the business society.

In 2014, Paul co-founded the International Institute for Serious Optimism (www.iiso.eu), which has the mission to stimulate the development of environments with a high ‘O-factor’, by developing, sharing and applying best practices that lead to increased performance based on positive thinking and behavior.

Paul is Chairman of the Dutch-Norwegian Business Network (www.dnbn.nl) which was founded in 2012 with the aim to provide a network platform for the promotion of Norwegian-Dutch business and the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences between Norway and the Netherlands.

Since 2012, Paul is member of the New Club of Paris (http://new-club-of-paris.org/). The NCP is the agenda developer for the Knowledge Economy. The Club’s main objective is to create awareness on what the knowledge society is and will be, and also support nations, regions, cities, communities, organizations and companies in their transformation into the Knowledge Economy.

In 2007, Paul took the initiative to set up and become the Chief Failure Officer of the Institute of Brilliant Failures (www.briljantemislukkingen.nl or www.brilliantfailures.com/en/), an approach to get acceptance for failing as an inevitable part of our complex lives and in particular in the innovation process. In this capacity he is chairman of the jury for annual ‘Brilliant Failure Award” in various sectors, including Development Aid’. As of 2014, also the annual ‘Brilliant Failure Award in Healthcare’ has been issued and after three successful campaigns the program has received full support from the Ministry of Healthcare, Well-being and Sports and in the years 2016-2018 it has as theme: Health as a (self-)learning and evolving system.