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Hi. I'm Manuel. I help companies become fulfilling workplaces.

I specialize in organizational design that fosters intrinsic motivation, helping companies implement just enough structure and process to ensure smooth operations and scalable growth without becoming bureaucratic.


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What I offer

I work with

  • Companies that want to bring their employees' engagement and culture to the next level
  • Change agents who own and drive the change in their company or for their client
  • Leaders who role model the change and act as multipliers for the desired culture
  • Employees who put the change into practice and make it a reality

New here? Start with this free stuff to get a feel for what I do, at your own pace:


  • 📩 Newsletter: New Work Visualized - Weekly, bite-sized visuals and experiments to help you rethink work. Slowly, consistently, and with curiosity.
  • 🎧 Podcast: New Work Conversations - Curious, candid conversations that explore the edges of what we know about work, without rushing to answers.
  • 📺 Videos: Youtube Channel - Short, thoughtful videos on the real challenges of transformation, engagement, and designing better ways to work.
  • 💬 Calls: Open Office Hours - Every second Thursday of the month, 3–4pm (CET). No RSVP, just drop in and say hi. Not so distant, but still no pressure. 😁

Who this is for

  • Founders & Scale-ups

    You’ve grown fast, but growth is starting to hurt.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    You’re no longer a small team where everyone knows everything. People are disengaging, decisions are bottlenecked with founders, and culture feels harder to hold onto.


    💬 What you want:

    • A company structure that scales without bureaucracy.
    • Leaders who take ownership instead of waiting on you.
    • A culture that is still motivating, even at 200+ people.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That you’ll lose the spark that made your company special.
    • That you’ll become just another corporate machine.
    • That top talent will leave because they don’t feel agency anymore.


    Why my work is for you:

    I help founders and leadership teams design organizational systems that grow with you, keeping clarity, autonomy, and purpose intact while you scale.

  • People & Culture Teams

    You want to be strategic but you’re drowning in operations.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    You’re spending all your time firefighting (hiring, payroll, policies). The People team isn’t seen as strategic, and culture-building feels like an afterthought.


    💬 What you want:

    • A clear people strategy tied to business goals.
    • Minimal, scalable processes that run smoothly.
    • A reputation as the function that makes growth possible.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That the People function will always be undervalued.
    • That without change, you’ll burn out on execution.
    • That you’ll miss the chance to shape the company’s identity.


    Why my work is for you:

    I bring frameworks and experience that free up capacity, elevate the People function, and make culture a business advantage.

  • Investors & Boards

    You know product and sales aren’t enough. Culture eats strategy for breakfast.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    The companies you invest in hit growth targets, but struggle with churn, disengagement, or failed scaling attempts. You see culture cracks forming before leadership does.


    💬 What you want:

    • Founders who don’t become bottlenecks.
    • Sustainable scaling without high turnover.
    • A reputation that attracts top talent organically.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That weak culture will cap growth and valuation.
    • That a promising scale-up will implode under its own weight.
    • That engagement and retention problems will drain returns.


    Why my work is for you:

    I help companies design organizational systems that make growth resilient, talent sticky, and culture a lasting differentiator.

  • Change Agents

    You’re driving the transformation. But change is heavier than it looks.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    You’re holding the vision. You’re the one pushing for better ways of working. But progress is slow, messy, political.


    💬 What you want:

    • Real change, not just new posters and buzzwords.
    • Leaders who don’t just say yes—but act like it.
    • Tools that work in practice, not just in workshops.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That you’ll burn out before change happens.
    • That you’re the only one who still believes.
    • That you’re being asked to fix culture with no real power.


    ✨ Why my work is for you:

    I help you go from lone warrior to equipped catalyst. I give you the knowledge and tools to turn good intentions into shared momentum. You don’t have to start from scratch.

  • Leaders

    You want to be a multiplier but you’re stuck being a bottleneck.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    You want your team to take initiative. You want to lead with trust. But instead, you’re making every decision, fixing everything, and burning out.


    💬 What you want:

    • A team that thinks for itself and acts with ownership.
    • A culture that grows with the company—not against it.
    • To stop feeling like the CEO of Chaos Control.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That loosening your grip will lead to disaster.
    • That your culture will fade as you grow.
    • That you’ll have to become “corporate” to scale.


    ✨ Why my work is for you:

    I show you how to scale your company and your culture by building autonomy with alignment. You’ll learn to design systems that don’t rely on you—but are shaped by your values.

  • Employees

    You want to do meaningful work but the system gets in your way.


    🔍 What’s going on?

    You care. You try. But bureaucracy, unclear decisions, and misaligned goals keep sapping your energy.


    💬 What you want:

    • To be trusted and taken seriously.
    • To have a say in how things work.
    • To do work that matters, not just keeps the machine running.


    ⚠️ What you fear:

    • That your motivation will fade.
    • That you’ll have to choose between speaking up or fitting in.
    • That “New Work” is just a fancy name for more unpaid emotional labor.


    ✨ Why my work is for you:

    I help create workplaces where your voice matters, where decision-making is shared, and where you can show up fully—without pretending, burning out, or giving up.

Elevator pitch

Do you know that situation when a friend vents about work because they’re stuck under a bad boss or caught in a system that makes them feel powerless? I help companies make sure that people don’t feel that way about their work.


Now, don’t get me wrong — work will always have its challenges. That’s normal. But the difference between “tough but fulfilling” and “soul-crushing” comes down to how much agency we feel we have at work. I help companies design structures, processes, and cultures where people are treated like adults, so they feel like they’re shaping their work, not just surviving it.

Documentary

🤔 How do you convey the desired culture of an organizational transformation?


🎙️ I decided to let the people tell you, who experienced it firsthand. I interviewed 5 of my former colleagues.


🎥 My plan was to create a 10-minute video but the stories and insights were way too rich for that format. It evolved into a 41-minute mini-documentary.


❤️ I’m filled with gratitude and the warm fuzzies for what we achieved together. I love how they put into their own words what I struggle with describing.

Guided by Self-Determination Theory

My work is grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a scientific framework based on more than 5 decades of research that explores what drives human motivation and well-being. At its heart is a simple but profound idea: people thrive when they feel autonomous, competent, and connected.


Everything I do—every course, workshop, and intervention—is designed to increase intrinsic motivation (or help people move up the motivation spectrum). Whether a task is joyful or just necessary, the key is whether people feel it's theirs. This principle acts as my compass in every collaboration.

Built on real-world practice

Over the past decade, I've worked as org designer hands-on in transforming organizations from the inside out. From these lived experiences, I’ve distilled the nine New Work by Design key practices. They’re not theoretical ideals, they’re proven levers for creating intrinsically motivating workplaces.


Each practice—from decision-making to conflict resolution—is essential. They support one another, forming a system where people can do meaningful work, grow as individuals, and collaborate with clarity and trust. If intrinsic motivation is the compass, these practices are the map to build truly fulfilling organizations. Here's how to get started.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Shaping the future of work, one Monday at a time.

Each email contains

  1. visual of a New Work insight,
  2. a short psychology-backed explanation, and
  3. a simple experiment to try this week in <2 hrs.

That's it.

One bite-sized New Work concept every Monday morning. They won't start a revolution, but they will help you evolve. With consistency comes compound interest. 1.01³⁶⁵ = 37.8