Roland Waldner always dreamt of being a movie director. Instead his creativity made leaps and bounds at Philips’ Consumer Lifestyle division, writes Intan Maizura Ahmad Kamal
It’s a nippy afternoon in sleepy Klagenfurt, Austria’s sixth largest city, but with the sun’s comforting rays caressing the parts of my back not covered by cloth, I didn’t mind it in the least. And when you have creative genius Roland Waldner keeping you company — whose rock star persona brings to mind rock god Jon Bon Jovi — what’s there to mind?
Taking a break from pondering the next big invention to change the world of kitchen appliances (or the world, for that matter), the gregarious Waldner, manager of Advanced Development and Innovation, Consumer Lifestyle, at Philips Klagenfurt is in his element regaling me with his life story as we sip freshly blended ice-cold juices al fresco at Philips Klagenfurt Innovation Centre in Carinthia’s capital.
Just minutes earlier, he’d also been in his element sharing his passion for invention and the brand to a charmed Asian media trying desperately not to be distracted by the exquisite Austrian chocolates and biscuits laid out before them in the cosy briefing room. This is the first time that Philips has organised a visit of this kind to its innovation centre for media from Asia, where over the course of several days, the company unveiled the passion and commitment behind some of its most successful kitchen innovations familiar to most.
Waldner, who’s responsible for shaping the future of Kitchen Machines by inventing new products and functionalities, has been a part of the Philips team for close to 20 years. When he joined them back in 1990s, it was as a Function Developer for women’s razors and he was also the group leader for Female Depilation and Skincare. In 2006, he became manager of the FUNction Development department.
THE IDEAS GUY
Prior to joining Philips, Waldner, who also works as an instructor for the University of Klagenfurt and lectures at the Graz University of Technology, was a plastics engineer who spent his days in a chemical lab processing, designing, developing and manufacturing plastic products. “But all I’d ever wanted to be was a famous movie director — I still do — that’s my dream. Movies are my passion and I dream of being a director like Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg. I love watching the ‘making-of’ of movies,” confides Waldner, eyes dancing with enthusiasm.
He’s an ideas guy, Waldner is quick to stress. “I definitely don’t see my job as just a developer. I see myself as a director working on a production, albeit not in the conventional sense. The world of innovations is fascinating. You don’t really have the story but you just know that there must be something.”
Why didn’t he just go into movie-making then, I ask, enjoying the 40-something’s unbridled energy.
He smiles. “Simple. At that time (when he was younger), it wasn’t an easy thing to do. You needed a lot of money. My parents told me that I had to learn a skill first and then they’d let me do what I want. So I went into plastics engineering because it was the one job that I thought would not bore me. There was variety in the job scope - technical design, chemicals, physics, and economics.”
His entry into the world of Philips was an accident, confides Waldner. “A company in Vienna was looking for a plastics engineer and it was Philips,” he recalls. “I thought it would be in Vienna but no, it was to be in Klagenfurt. But I came for the initial meet anyway and ended up spending the whole day having discussions with a whole bunch of people from the company. When I returned home, I remember thinking to myself that they certainly didn’t need me. I mean, I’m not technical engineer or an electrical engineer. I’m a plastics engineer. And then again, maybe I was just too ‘mad’ for them!”
Chuckling, he adds: “The job description was for a ‘function developer’. I didn’t even know what that meant either. But it sounded interesting! The day after, I got a call from them. It seemed that they thought me an interesting guy.”
Eyes glinting with mischief, Waldner, who’s also a trained musician, adds: “They said, ‘we have a lot of electrical engineers, mechanical engineers but we’ve never had a person like you’.
The boss at the time told me that he was keen to bring on board a new ‘thinking guy’. I remember there was a buzz in the company then because of all the new things that were being started. And I liked that. I started thinking about new innovations and creativity. It sounded great.”
BEING INSPIRED
“I’m inspired 24/7,” says Waldner, beaming. “I’m switched on all the time and see things that maybe others just don’t see. I’m happy at the simplest things. I get ecstatic when I see a beautiful bed of flowers. Ideas can come anytime. Even when I’m mowing the lawn! The best way to get inspiration is by talking to people and exchanging thoughts with each other. That’s what I love to do.”
When he first found himself in the Function Development department, Waldner concedes that he didn’t know what it constituted at first. “Now I do. It’s actually FUN-ion!” he says, gleefully, before adding: “I’m looking to have fun and action. The fun bit is when you sit together with other people and think of opportunities and potentials, and find out what the world needs and have a dream. The best of all is when you see the end product in the market. The fact that YOU know where it all started.”
Suffice to say, the man loves his job. “How could I not? I get paid to dream! This management position that I have doesn’t require me to sit behind a table and organise things and people via computer. I’m part of the process. I come up with ideas but also discuss with other people about their ideas. Just like a director.”
Sometimes, says the laid-back Sagittarius, it’s necessary to go through 3,000 ideas before arriving at a single success. “It can be frustrating for a lot of people, but not me. I’m driven by the process. I don’t focus on the result. It’s like coming back to being a director. It’s not the movie that I like; it’s making the movie. If an idea fails, it’s ok. I’d have learnt something. Now I’d just need to do it a different way. This is also my approach to life in general.”
What happens when he encounters a creativity block? “I get it very often,” concedes Waldner, who’s also a trained musician who plays a mean classic clarinet, saxophone and drums. “But I never fear it. When I get a block, I just do sports or cook.”
Excitedly, he drags out a small journal from his jacket pocket and proudly opens a page that, from where I’m seated, looks like a mess of indecipherable doodling, sketches and jottings.
“This is my ideas book,” says Waldner, grinning. “I write down every experience that I go through in a day in this book. If I cut my finger in the kitchen and it’s never happened before, I’ll jot it down. When I have a discussion with my son and he tells me his ideas, even though I don’t like them, I write it all down. Then I go through what I’ve written.”
How many ideas books does he have?
“Five!” Waldner replies, adding that they’re all filled with ideas — some over the top, others pretty lucid. “I really must get these books insured,” he says, chuckling.
What’s the craziest idea he’s ever had, I ask.
Waldner pauses for thought before breaking into another huge grin. “When I decided to build my own house - by myself. I thought it’d just be like playing with Lego. Of course, I’d never built a house before but I had seen my parents do it when I was younger. I remember my wife asking me whether I’d be able to do it. I said it can’t be too complicated. It’s just a house!”
Suffice to say, the challenge spurred him. “I had to do it and see it through to the end. Today, my house is standing but there’s still one room left not completed. I even make my own furniture.”
The father-of-one, whose favourite subject at school was chemistry, admits to being inspired by young people. “My 16-year-old son inspires me. And his friends. I love observing how the young behave. Their behaviour, their habits, and their quirks fascinate me.”
As my time with Waldner finally comes to an end, I couldn’t resist throwing him a final question: What would be his dream invention?
And again his eyes blaze with enthusiasm. “Do you know R2D2, the astromech droid from Star Wars? I’d like to invent something like that.
“A droid that can get all the housework done so that I don’t have to do anything when I get home. Yeah, I’m dreaming about that!”
Innovation, a serious business
FOR over five decades, inventors, researchers, technicians, material specialists, quality and safety experts and more at Philips Klagenfurt have taken consumer insights and worked tirelessly to create innovative solutions for Philips Kitchen Appliances that matter to consumers around the world.
Innovation at Klagenfurt is serious business, with more than 1,000 ideas generated and exhaustively pursued before the final product proposition makes it to the market. A great example is the Philips Airfryer’s Rapid Air Technology which brought to life the possibility of frying food without oil, enabling consumers to enjoy delectable fried treats with up to 80 per cent less fat.
Understanding consumers’ dilemma to indulge in fried foods whilst keeping their health in check has made Philips a success, making it the World’s No.1 brand for low fat fryers. Philips is also the global No.1 brand in juice extractors and food processors, and the Asia Pacific No. 1 brand in blenders.