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I spent the better part of a Sunny afternoon in a dusty meeting room. Though that sounds cruel, I do not really mind. My boss pays me some money to be in dusty meeting rooms with clients, and last time I checked, it was pretty much what I do for a living. That and doing email, phone calls and bringing dirty coffee cups back to the dishwasher on the ground floor. 


Well, in that meeting room, listening to an endless presentation swamped with too much data, wrong color schemes and brought by a sweaty pointy headed lad I noticed that my neighbor was deftly filling in a giant Sudoku. 


Now I’ve seen people buying Porsches online during meetings, chatting with ladyboys in Thailand, filling in their timesheets, or slowly snoring glide into their private Xanadu out of pure boredom. But Sudoku? I do not get it. 


It’s like jigsaws. People proud of spending a fortnight on the ground on hands and knees to patiently wade through 15000 pieces with shades of blue, all with one aim: puzzling the Niagara Falls together? And on the last morning proudly say: I did it, and shovel the pieces back in the box. Or crosswords. Trying to figure out “Big in Japan backwards in Korea’” and try to dot that in the five cases left on 6 horizontal. 


Sudoku, jigsaws and crosswords should be blasted somewhere into the middle of last year. If we could harness and harvest all the brainpower wasted on these things, we would have found cures to cancer, global warming, ebola and AIDS. 


Luckily Sudoku was not very popular in Einstein’s days…. 


Danny Devriendt is the Managing Director of IPG/Dynamic in Brussels, and the CEO of The Eye of Horus, a global think-tank focusing on innovative technology topics. With a proven track record in leadership mentoring, C-level whispering, strategic communications and a knack for spotting meaningful trends, Danny challenges the status quo and embodies change. Attuned to the subtlest signals from the digital landscape, Danny identifies significant trends in science, economics, culture, society, and technology and assesses their potential impact on brands, organizations, and individuals. His ability for bringing creative ideas, valuable insights, and unconventional solutions to life, makes him an invaluable partner and energizing advisor for top executives. Specializing in innovation -and the corporate communications, influence, strategic positioning, exponential change, and (e)reputation that come with it-, Danny is the secret weapon that you hope your competitors never tap into. As a guest lecturer at a plethora of universities and institutions, he loves to share his expertise with future (and current) generations. Having studied Educational Sciences and Agogics, Danny's passion for people, Schrödinger's cat, quantum mechanics, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fuels his unique, outside-of-the-box thinking. He never panics. Previously a journalist in Belgium and the UK, Danny joined IPG Mediabrands in 2012 after serving as a global EVP Digital and Social for the Porter Novelli network (Omnicom). His expertise in managing global, regional, or local teams; delivering measurable business growth; navigating fierce competition; and meeting challenging deadlines makes him an seasoned leader. (He has a microwave at home.) An energetic presenter, he brought his enthusiasm, clicker and inspiring slides to over 300 global events, including SXSW, SMD, DMEXCO, Bluetooth World Congress, GSMA MWC, and Cebit. He worked with an impressive portfolio of clients like Bayer AG, 3M, Coca Cola, KPMG, Tele Atlas, Parrot, The Belgian National Lottery, McDonald's, Colruyt, Randstad, Barco, Veolia, Alten, Dow, PWC, the European Commission, Belfius, and HP. He played a pivotal role in Bluetooth's global success. Ranked 3rd most influential ad executive on Twitter by Business Insider and listed among the top 10 ad execs to follow by CEO Magazine, Danny also enjoys writing poetry and short stories, earning several literary awards in Belgium and the Netherlands. Fluent in Dutch, French, and English, Danny is an eager and versatile communicator. His BBQ skills are legendary.

One Comment

  • Jay says:

    If we could harness and harvest all the brainpower wasted on these things, we would have found cures to cancer, global warming, ebola and AIDS.

    ….you’re wrong.

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