“Try not to map out where you want to be in five or ten years. Focus on what makes you tick.” 

Short biography
Lex Hoogduin is a Dutch economist, former central banker, and experienced boardroom adviser in the financial sector. He is emeritus professor of Economics of Complexity and Uncertainty in Financial Markets and Financial Institutions at the University of Groningen, and widely known for bringing a “complexity and uncertainty” lens to questions of monetary policy, governance, risk management, and financial stability.

In the Leaders in Finance episode, Hoogduin explains how his thinking evolved from a strong belief in “makeability” toward almost the opposite: a conviction that society cannot be engineered in a straight line. That shift sits at the heart of his FAUC model, a qualitative framework designed to help individuals, teams, and institutions act effectively under uncertainty and complexity, especially where traditional, quantitative risk management reaches its limits.

Alongside academia, he built a long career in public service and finance, including senior roles at De Nederlandsche Bank and a period as personal adviser to Wim Duisenberg in Frankfurt in the run up to the ECB’s early years.