Andre A. Wiringa: Creating Meaningful Experiences Through Reversology

What experience do you want people to remember?

Ask this of any business; most will talk about their products, processes, and financial targets, and treat customer experience as something born from combining those three. But what if they reversed that sequence? What if they could establish the experience people should have, and then shape leadership, employee behaviour, and the working environment around it? This is the concept of ‘Reverse Thinking’, an approach championed by Andre A. Wiringa, Founder and Chief Reverse Engineer of Start Reverse B.V.

A hospitality veteran, Andre understands that everyday interaction shapes a business’ image. A guest seeking help, A customer raising concerns, or an employee deciding how to respond can define a business’ promise or expose its gaps. Drawing on decades of experience, he helps businesses work backwards from the experience they want people to remember. His philosophy, which he calls Reversology, connects purpose, leadership and employee behaviour with a single ambition: to turn customers/guests into lifetime fans. What gives his philosophy a more personal dimension is the fact that it fostered his own entrepreneurial comeback.

A Childhood Fascination That Shaped a Philosophy

The biggest and most inspiring leadership stories began with a fascination. Andre’s fascination with the hospitality space began at six. He was on a family visit to a small hotel on the border of Belgium and Luxembourg. Intrigued by its functioning, he asked whether he could help. Soon, he was assisting in the kitchen and restaurant. What piqued his interest eventually led him to Hotel School The Hague and later to a master’s degree at Florida International University. From there, he took on various roles with Marriott Hotels, Hilton International, Holiday Inn EMEA, and Crowne Plaza, taking him across countries and into leadership positions, including four hotel openings.

In 1987, Andre started his own hospitality training and consultancy business. Its reach expanded as his friends and clients moved into retail, banking, and automotive businesses. And they repetitively made him one request: help turn their customers into guests. Andre explains, “As a guest, you stay longer, come back more often, bring your friends, and spend more time and money.”

Since the 2000s, Andre has recognized a recurring problem with conventional training. While institutes equipped professionals with knowledge and skills, lessons alone couldn’t bring sustainable change. Employees need a supportive environment to put their skills into practice, and brands must live up to their promise and translate it into the customer experience. The realisation prompted him to rethink his company’s strategy. Training must connect with the organisation’s purpose, leadership and everyday behaviour. This became the foundation of his approach to Reverse Thinking and Engineering.

The Birth of Reverse Thinking

In early 2020, Andre’s company, Performance Solutions, employed 65 people and operated through several legal entities worldwide. Then COVID-19 disrupted the business. Within four weeks, the company lost close to 90% of its work, forcing him to make a decision he never imagined. “I made the most painful decision of my professional life and closed a profitable firm,” says Andre. Beyond profit, the company was built on decades of entrepreneurial effort, a team he valued, and relationships developed across industries and countries.

However, within 2 months, he returned with a core group of colleagues and a renewed sense of direction. The company relaunched as Start Reverse, taking its name from his first book and embracing the purpose of “bringing relevance to the world.” The relaunch allowed him to put the experience he wanted to create at the centre of his business. The company subsequently expanded its community of partners and ambassadors. To Andre, closing the business he built from scratch in 2020 was the most painful moment of his career. But to jump back with a new name and a new purpose in 2023 made it his best year ever. Three years later, he was co-hosting the FHS (Future Hospitality Summit) World Hackathon 2026 in Dubai, working with the next generation of hospitality thinkers. His comeback is one of his proudest milestones, as it carries a lesson that continues to shape his outlook: “Never give up and make sure to bring relevance.”

Reversology: From Memorable Experiences to Meaningful Relationships

Andre’s Reversology starts by changing how a business thinks about itself.  Instead of developing products and processes, then expecting customer experience to follow, Andre asks leaders to define their purpose, desired identity, and the stories they want people to know. They then work backwards: identifying the experiences that would inspire those stories, the employee interactions that would create them, and the leadership and environment needed to support those interactions.

This sequence addresses a fundamental challenge. While products, technology, and attractive interiors can impress people, competitors can replicate them. Customers/guests eventually come to expect them. Emphasising human connection allows the business to genuinely stand out. The idea became the foundation of Reversology. “It is what I learned from applying that method for many years, in more than 360 experience blueprints for hotels, airlines, airports, retailers,” adds Andre. The approach not only draws customers towards brands but also advocates a sense of belonging that strengthens that relationship. “Satisfied customers stay silent. Fans can’t stop talking,” he says.

The strategy has a similar impact when applied in corporate environments. Leaders support employees, and transformation happens through small, repeated habits. Rather than asking how to persuade people to behave differently, Andre asks what conditions would make them naturally want to do so. It brings the philosophy back to its core concept: define what people should experience, then align the organisation to it through everyday decisions, behaviours and interactions.

Closing the Gap Between Promise and Experience

One of the biggest challenges in modern organisations is the tendency to make things too perfect, too complete, too correct, and too complex. Andre describes this as the “3C syndrome”. This is why Start Reverse translates its philosophy into a three-step journey: designing an Experience Blueprint, identifying the gap between that blueprint and reality, and helping the organisation close it. The blueprint gives the teams a shared reference for purpose, identity, brand promise, desired experience, behaviour, working climate, and leadership.

Then the company starts examining the distance between the intended experience and reality. Customer feedback, employee insights, behavioural analysis, and observation reveal how the brand promise holds up in everyday moments. As Andre explains, the assessment considers whether people felt what the organisation intended them to feel, alongside whether it delivered what it promised. The program brings leaders and teams together to foster teamwork. These are supported by programmes including Experience STARs, FISH! 2.0 and EPIC Leadership.

Through the EPIC leadership framework, the company develops leaders who are Empowering, Purpose-driven, Inspiring, and Coaching. Their responsibility is to create the conditions in which employees feel confident to act, understand why their contribution matters, and receive support to grow. The blueprint then becomes part of everyday routines. Two-minute exercises like “Who was your STAR today?” and colleagues recognising someone for being Surprising, Touching, Assisting, or Recognising. The aim is to make the desired experience part of how the organisation operates, supported by leaders and reinforced through learning close to the work.

Transforming Experiences Across Industries

Start Reverse’s reverse approach has seen recognizable results across industries. The individual projects show how the philosophy adapts to different organisations while retaining its focus on people and their interactions:

At citizenM, the starting point was the modern traveller and the experience the brand wanted to offer. Andre and his team helped develop a community of guest-facing ambassadors and put the inverted organisational pyramid into practice. Employees occupied a central position, supported by leaders whose role was to help them deliver the intended guest experience. For Andre, citizenM became an early illustration of how the approach could work throughout a global organisation.

At Mazda Motor Europe, the challenge centred on creating a shared direction across the business. The team co-created the Mazda Blueprint and supported its implementation, incorporating desired behaviours into appraisal and coaching. This connected the experience with how employees received feedback and developed professionally. Andre cites “Mazda Motor Europe President Martijn ten Brink’s assessment that the journey had a substantial impact on culture and customer experience, helping the organisation grow into ‘One Mazda Europe.’” Based on the success in Europe, Start Reverse was also asked by Mazda to help elevate guest experience, culture and leadership in North America, and more recently in Japan (immersing 14,000 co-workers in the new experience blueprint of Mazda Corporate).

Across these projects, the connecting thread is translating identity into action. Each organisation brings its own promise; Start Reverse helps establish the behaviours and support that allow people to deliver it consistently.

Expanding the Reach of Reverse Thinking

As innovative as Andre is about his approach to business transformation, he sees a clear opportunity in evolving technologies for organisations to strengthen their relationships. As customers seek greater personalisation and employees look for meaning in their work, leaders must ensure that new tools support those needs.

For Start Reverse, the next chapter centres on sharing its philosophy with a wider network. Andre’s forthcoming book, REVERSOLOGY: How to Create Lifetime Fans Using Reverse Psychology, is scheduled to launch in Amsterdam in January 2027. It coincides with his fortieth year of entrepreneurship. The book combines practical guidance with cartoons, reflection-and-action assignments, and QR codes linking to audio chapters and podcasts.

Alongside the book, he plans to expand the global community of partners and certified facilitators, enabling local delivery across languages and cultures. His ambition is fuelled by the same question that he asks business leaders: “What experience do you want people to remember?” He intends to keep helping organizations make meaningful experiences through purpose and everyday actions.