Winfred de Nijs: 'We live in a culture where you can't make mistakes'

This year, the family business M.J. De Nijs en Zonen celebrates its 101st anniversary. The construction company was responsible for the restoration project of the old streetcar depot De Hallen, museum Hermitage Amsterdam, the construction of the Eye Filmmuseum and currently the renovation of the former KPMG office in Amstelveen into high-end residences: The Mayor. At the helm is 64-year-old Winfred de Nijs. He is the third generation of the family business and is preparing to hand the company over to the fourth generation. His career started in South Africa and now he can call himself general manager for 12 years, but who helped Winfred build his career? Text: Patrick Stoffer
Image: De Nijs and Sons

What was your very first job?

''At ²¹, I left for South Africa to work as an intern and then as a production worker at a very large company called Iscor. Iron was organized here, and in those days that was done with a brick oven through which the iron went. These sometimes fell apart and terrible accidents happened. I helped build a new aluminum line here. This new line came from America and was set up there. I was allowed to work on this.

How did you end up in your current job?

''Construction company M.J. De Nijs en Zonen is a family business that has been in existence for 101 years this year; by the way, my last name is also De Nijs. In 1980, we took on a major project in Amsterdam: the renovation of the Piet Lodewijk Tak neighborhood. These are homes built in the 1930s in the Amsterdam School style. In that year my father asked me to come back from South Africa and then I joined the family business as a work planner. After this I moved up to business manager and seven years later to finance director. For the last twelve years, since 2009, I have been general manager of De Nijs and Sons. ''

In that, who was your wheelbarrow?

The company has now been around for 101 years. My grandfather passed it on to his sons, one of whom was my father. So at home we didn't really talk about anything other than the company; it was basically brought up at an early age. So my first wheelbarrow was my father, who drew me to the company. I also got a lot of inspiration from employees who worked in the company, but also from people we worked for. Architects of name and fame, such as Joop van Stigt and Theo Bos, who have since passed away. People often don't realize it themselves that they are a wheelbarrow for someone. A good wheelbarrow always does it unconsciously.Photo: Rob Verhagen

What is your greatest passion in your profession?

''People are proud of the buildings they have made. We have a profession where we get to leave something on the world. We get to give the world something that makes it more interesting. For example, we got to make the Hermitage, the Eye Film Museum and the Pontsteiger. Amsterdam is an important spearhead. We are everywhere, but always in the city center. My greatest passion is making the world a little bit more beautiful. You leave behind something that people can enjoy, can live in and get joy out of. The passion with which that happens internally and externally is wonderful.''

What has been the biggest learning moment in your career?

''One of my biggest learning moments though was that I made the move to South Africa at the end of my school career. Not because of South Africa, but it detaches you from a certain way of thinking. Making that move puts you in an unworldly country where you have to manage all by yourself, because you were brought up here protected anyway. You arrive there and are picked up at the airport. Save your own here and the next day you have to go to work by bus 10 kilometers away. Then you get by and don't think after a week, 'I want to go home.' That helped me a lot. And of course my father's coaching in the business. With my brother and cousins I later had the opportunity to run the company. In the mid-1990s the company had a very difficult time and was on the verge of collapse. Nonetheless, we carried on and shrugged it off together. It's more the moments in a private atmosphere, rather than making a building.''

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

''Dare to learn and dare to make mistakes. I learned the most from the mistakes I made. I learned to drive through Amsterdam by driving wrong. Now you have a TomTom, but back then it wasn't there. Learning Amsterdam by driving wrong. Then you just drive around three streets, then you know exactly where that street is. That's the imagery. Try to learn, both theoretically and in practice. Allow yourself to make mistakes. We live in a culture where you are no longer allowed to make mistakes. What does that lead to? That people no longer take responsibility.''

Have you been a wheelbarrow for anyone?

''I try to be a wheelbarrow for my children. Live with joy, but use your talents. I hope to transfer the business to the fourth generation in a good way. My grandfather is the first generation, his sons the second and I the third. The fourth is coming up. The fourth generation is different from the first three because we realized that we can also put a woman in charge of the company. For example, my niece Danielle is also on the management board. A construction company is a man's world, but here you also fortunately see more women coming into the world. Maybe it's more for women, because men hobble from one to the other. In the culture, it's good to have women running. That whole macho thing gets rid of it and that's good. If you want the company to have a good future, you have to move with the times.''

The Mayor - Amstelveen