THE OBEYA WAY: BETTER FOCUS AND MORE RESULTS WITH ARJEN DE RUITER

“It’s better to have 80% of the work 100% done than 100% of the work 80% done.”

That simple line from Arjen de Ruiter, IT Director at Essent, captures the quiet revolution he’s leading…one that’s less about doing more and more about doing what matters.

When busy doesn’t mean productive

At the start of 2024, Essent’s IT landscape looked like a well-stocked buffet: plenty to choose from, too many plates piled high. There was always more work than people to do it.

Projects were being started faster than they were finished, and teams were switching between priorities like browser tabs on a Monday morning. The result was scattered energy, diluted progress, and people running on mental fumes.

“We had a lot of work in progress but not enough work in completion,” Arjen recalls. “That constant switching lowers productivity and leaves no headspace. You end up with meetings about progress instead of actual progress.”

So he drew a line in the sand: 2025 had to be different. Not another year of juggling, but a year of focusing.

A better way of leading

The answer came in the form of a deceptively simple idea: the Obeya way of working.

Born at Toyota and used famously in the development of the Prius, Obeya, Japanese for “big room,” brings people, plans, and problems together in one space. It’s where strategy meets the day-to-day.

“When the right people focus on the right things, you can align daily progress with long-term goals,” Arjen explains. “That’s when you stop chasing tasks and start creating outcomes.”

He and the IT leadership team introduced the Obeya framework in December 2024, first for themselves, and are now in the process of cascading it to engineering managers. The idea wasn’t to add more structure, but to create the right kind of structure. One that connects strategy, performance, and purpose.

The flow became clear:
Strategy → Performance (KPIs) → Plan work to be done (milestones) → Track progress (daily and weekly routines)

Each layer feeds into the next, forming a living, breathing rhythm of leadership.

Routines that free up thinking

With Obeya, meetings stopped being status marathons and became short, sharp check-ins. Every day starts with an Act and Respond session. These sessions dedicate five minutes per topic, demanding laser focus on impediments. If something’s blocking progress, it’s surfaced and solved quickly. No drifting, no deep-diving where it’s not needed. “You’d be amazed how much clarity comes when you limit time,” Arjen laughs. “It forces decisions. And decisions drive progress.”

Fridays alternate between two sessions:

• Performance meetings: Two-hour check-ins where teams look at KPIs. If something’s red, it’s discussed, and actions are agreed upon every two weeks.
• Content meetings: More open, deep-dive sessions covering milestones like hiring, capacity, or financial management.

By replacing scattered meetings and inbox chaos with clear routines, the team actually gained back time and focus. “There are no more endless email threads. No ‘quick syncs’ that turn into 45-minute detours,” he explains. “Now, discussions happen where they belong. It gives people more time to focus on milestones instead of messages.”

From meetings to momentum

Arjen’s mantra is simple: start less, finish more. “Everyone feels good starting new things, but real impact comes from finishing,” he says. “It’s better to have 80% of the work 100% done than 100% of the work 80% done.”

That shift from multitasking to meaningful completion has started to show results. Teams feel more in control, leaders more connected, and priorities more visible.

“When people understand not just what they’re doing but why, you see a completely different level of motivation,” he explains. “They start asking, ‘How do we achieve this?’ and that’s when commitment really begins.”

The bigger picture

For Arjen, this is more than just about process—it’s about purpose. The goal is clear:

• To build stable solutions fast, with the best people, fewer issues, full compliance, and financial control.

He’s steering Essent’s IT towards an outcome-driven, operationally excellent future. One where success is measured not just by delivery speed, but by the quality and impact of what’s delivered.

Just some of the outcomes that are being measured are:

• Embedding risk management into every capability
• Building quality into everything
• Achieving revenue targets and products that customers love
• Empowering people to reach their potential

“Being outcome-driven doesn’t mean chasing numbers,” he says. “It means creating value financially, technically, and for our people.”

One thing to try this week💡

Ask your team: “What are we starting that we might not finish?”
Then pick one thing to close this week. Small completions build big momentum. That’s how strategy turns into progress, with one completed task at a time.

Next up: Djimmy on performance

Arjen showed us how focus and structure turn strategy into clarity.
Next, Djimmy will show us how performance brings that clarity to life…because what gets measured, moves.