Luc de Brabandere

Luc de Brabandere graduated from UCL in mathematics and philosophy. Specialist in cognitive sciences and Fellow of the BCG Henderson Institute , he helps leaders think about their strategy. He founded the communication agency Cartoonbase where artists and consultants work together. He teaches at various universities and is a director of WBE (Wallonie-Bruxelles-Enseignement).

At the age of 20, Luc de Brabandere began studying Applied Mathematics at the Catholic University of Louvain. He graduated in 1971. In 2002, he obtained a degree in Philosophy from the same university.

Luc de Brabandere began his career at Société Générale de Banque in 1974, as head of information systems. He was employed there until 1989. At the age of 41, he was appointed Managing Director of the Brussels Stock Exchange by the Minister of Finance in charge of capital market reform. He quit his job in 1991 and went into business consulting. A mathematical engineer by training and passionate about foresight, in 1985 he published his first book entitled Les Infoducs. He was already considering the convergence of telecommunications networks and the advent of the Internet. In 1989 he devoted his second book, “Le Latéroscope”, to his other passion: creativity. Joël de Rosnay wrote the preface.

Between 1997 and 1999, Luc de Brabandere chaired the National Geographic Institute of Belgium. In 2001, he joined the Boston Consulting Group as vice president and specialist in organizational change management. He is responsible for the development of creativity, in connection with the strategy. Luc de Brabandere is now a Fellow of the group.

At the same time, he created, with Olivier Saive, the company Cartoonbase, a communication agency where artists and consultants work together to simplify complex business subjects using drawings. Passionate about philosophy, he resumed studies in the subject at the Catholic University of Louvain in 1994.

Luc de Brabandere wishes to popularize the contribution of philosophy in various fields, ranging from language to logic, from cognitive biases to humour. In about fifteen books published on these subjects, he bears witness to the same project: that of intellectual rigor when there are no figures. According to Luc de Brabandere, the company finds it difficult to reason without the support of figures. Philosophy then becomes a tool of rigor, and the precise use of words, necessary, because language structures thought. He regularly collaborates with large companies or international organizations. He assists the management teams to help them imagine breakthrough scenarios, clarify their vision or work on their communication.

Luc de Brabandere teaches philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain, at the Solvay Business School of Economics and Management and at the École centrale Paris. He collaborates with ETH Zurich in various projects. For him, the new generation is a “source of energy”. As is the case with companies, the philosopher strives to transmit his knowledge and his approach to creativity to students. Another approach to transmission: he collected calculating machines for a long time before bequeathing his collection to two entities: the L Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve and the Planetarium in Brussels.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Corporate Finance and Strategy
• Innovation Strategy and Delivery
• Business Model Innovation
• Product Innovation and Engineering

EDUCATION

• PhD, philosophy, Catholic University of Louvain
• BA, applied mathematics, Catholic University of Louvain