RealDrives history


The history of drives


RealDrives is based on the insight that functioning of people and teams is directly related to the combination of drives, context and behaviour. Behaviour arises from the tension between drives and perceived environment, from what drives people and the space they experience to express their drives.
RealDrives is the result of more than 25 years-of experience in developing (see the timeline) measurement instruments, previously leading to instruments such as Spiral Dynamics and Management Drives.

  • House of Drives 2019 - now
    In 2019, the time RealDrives was transferred to House of Drives. The daily operations are managed by Huub Haverhals. Machiel Koppenol and Hans Versnel will retain a role in the organisation.
  • RealDrives 2009 - now
    The experiences with first generation approaches to drives were positive, Nevertheless, there was a growing realisation that a completely different approach to the phenomenon of drives would be much more productive. Significant improvements in measuring drives were possible. For that reason, Machiel Koppenol and Hans Versnel presented an entirely new product in 2009: RealDrives. RealDrives is based on a fundamentally different human model than first generation approaches to drives. RealDrives considers individuals from a group behavioural perspective and assumes that people are adaptive and adapt their behaviour to a group.
  • Corgwell 2006 - 2009
    In 2006 Management Drives was acquired by the Corgwell Group, marking the end of the involvement of both Machiel Koppenol and Hans Versnel in Management Drives. Today, Management Drives still delivers the same drives test tot the market as in 2000.
  • Management Drives 2000 - 2006
    Management Drives started in the year 2000 with great success. Within a year, the product was widely distributed and the first Boards of Directors and even Ministers of the Dutch Government took the Management Drives test.
  • VCP 1999
    The Piece of Cake test was applied to large groups of people in the mid-1990s. One of those people was Hans Versnel, later a partner of the consultancy and interim agency Visser Copini & Partners. This agency acquired the rights to the Piece of Cake instrument in 1999 and developed the product into what became Management Drives.
  • Spiral Dynamics 1996
    Chris Cowan and Don Beck were invited to the Netherlands several times - here they learnt how to apply values in organisations. A few years later, in 1996, they wrote their standard work Spiral Dynamics through which the movement with the same name came into being. Today, Spiral Dynamics still operates with an early automated drive test. The Spiral Dynamics test essentially is a "worldview" test, measuring the perception of the world around the test candidate, as well as what the candidate considers to be his or her ideal world. In this way an image of As Is and To Be is created, which enables to think about desired changes.
  • Piece of Cake 1992-1999
    In 1992 Koppenol's values test was developed under the title Piece of Cake to such an extent that it could be used in organisations. The Piece of Cake test was used by, among others, bureau De Boer & Ritsema van Eck (DBR). The successful collaboration between Koppenol and DBR resulted in the application of Piece of Cake, that was/is used in many multinational companies in the Netherlands. Moreover, foreign experts were regularly invited to reinforce the story about values.
  • Theorie van Graves 1988 - 1992
    In 1992 Koppenol's values test was developed under the title Piece of Cake to such an extent that it could be used in organisations. The Piece of Cake test was used by, among others, bureau De Boer & Ritsema van Eck (DBR). The successful collaboration between Koppenol and DBR resulted in the application of Piece of Cake, that was/is used in many multinational companies in the Netherlands. Moreover, foreign experts were regularly invited to reinforce the story about values.

    In 1992 Koppenol's values test was developed under the title Piece of Cake to such an extent that it could be used in organisations. The Piece of Cake test was used by, among others, bureau De Boer & Ritsema van Eck (DBR). The successful collaboration between Koppenol and DBR resulted in the application of Piece of Cake, that was/is used in many multinational companies in the Netherlands. Moreover, foreign experts were regularly invited to reinforce the story about values.