--- title: "Flood the Netherlands With Optimism: The Dutch PM’s Challenge" description: Rob Jetten’s call to “flood the Netherlands with optimism” inspires Victor Perton’s case for optimistic national narratives worldwide. image: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Graffiti%20on%20Dutch%20Dyke%20Flooding%20Netherlands%20With%20Optimism.png --- ###### [Check out Our latest insights on Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog) [![Centre for Optimism\_Logo](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/Centre%20for%20Optimism_Logo.svg)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://www.centreforoptimism.com) - [Subscribe](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/subscribe) - [Why Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whyoptimism) - [What is Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whatisoptimism) - [The Optimism Principle](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/theoptimismprinciple) - [Need Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/services-and-workshops) - [The Optimism Workshop](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/workshop) - [Victor Perton - That Optimism Man](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/victorperton) - [Magnetic Optimism for Organisations](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/magnetic-optimism-workshops) ![Close Icon (3)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/Close%20Icon%20(3).svg) ![Search (2)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/Search%20(2).svg) ###### [Leadership](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/leadership) , ###### [Infectious Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/infectious-optimism) , ###### [Netherlands](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/netherlands) # Flood the Netherlands With Optimism: The Dutch PM’s Challenge "Flood the Netherlands With Optimism": The Dutch PM’s Positive Challenge to All of Us A Commentary by [Victor Perton, The Optimism Man](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/victorperton?hsLang=en) **“Flood the Netherlands with optimism”** A call to action. A call to optimism. And an invitation to all of us to share our infectious optimism and help make the world a better place. Reading Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten’s recent speech thrilled me. At the 60th anniversary congress of D66, Jetten reached back to the origins of his political movement. He described what began in Amsterdam in 1966 as *“een golf van optimisten”*, “a wave of optimists”, and then came his wonderful call in Dutch: *“Overspoel Nederland met optimisme.”* I loved it. At the Centre for Optimism, I have been working with economist Anand Kulkarni and Robert Masters AM on a new **Optimistic National Narrative**: how we can tell a national story that faces reality, recognises our strengths, sees possibility and strengthens our determination to shape a better future. Our starting point is simple: **Australia is a good country with the capacity to become better.** Jetten’s speech resonated because he is asking a similar question about his own country. D66 emerged in 1966 from concern about Dutch politics and democracy. Jetten recalls co-founder Hans van Mierlo remembering their concern about political rigidity and stagnation and their desire to do something about it. Jetten now describes those founders as *ongeruste optimisten*, “concerned optimists”. That combination interests me enormously. Concern can stimulate optimistic action when people believe improvement is possible. Jetten’s water imagery has a particularly Dutch resonance. He speaks of a “wave of optimists”. He recalls Van Mierlo helping D66 to “dig canals towards power”. Then he asks people to make the wave larger until it floods the Netherlands with optimism. For a country whose landscape and history are so intertwined with water, canals and dykes, it is a striking inversion. The Dutch have spent centuries managing destructive floods. Jetten asks them to unleash a different kind of flood. Leadership matters here, too. **Optimism can be infectious.** Infectiously optimistic leaders do not manufacture optimism in other people. They help unlock optimism, ideas and capability already present. They face reality, make possibility visible and invite people to unleash their energy and passion. That question of leadership reaches far beyond the Netherlands. Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has been making the wider case with unusual clarity. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he observed that across the United States, Europe and much of the world, **“Confidence is down. Optimism is down. Trust is down.”** He identified the real task as rebuilding the foundations of optimism in today’s world. Across the Tasman, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has also made optimism explicit in his leadership. After surveying geopolitical disruption and the pressures facing the world, Luxon declared: **“And so I remain relentlessly optimistic.”** His reasons are revealing. He points to extraordinary human capability: the reduction of extreme poverty, falling child mortality, expanding education, greater participation by women and advances in clean energy, medicine, digital technology and agriculture. More recently, Luxon connected that optimism directly to New Zealand’s national story: **“This is a country built on perpetual improvement over many years.”** He spoke of each generation doing better than the one before and of wanting his children and grandchildren to inherit still greater possibilities. **Perpetual improvement** is an optimistic national narrative. Jetten, Tharman and Luxon come from different countries, political traditions and circumstances. I am interested in something that sits beyond their individual politics. Each is treating optimism as a serious question of public leadership. Optimism is a belief that good things will happen and that things will work out in the end. Optimistic public policy begins with the belief that problems can be understood, institutions can improve, and people can contribute to solutions. It invests in capability, experimentation, learning and long-term possibility. Uncertainty is a condition for judgement, not a reason for paralysis. Good policymakers ask, **“What could go wrong?”** Optimistic policymakers designing great policy go further. They also ask, **“What could go right, and what would we need to do to make that more likely?”** This is where national narrative becomes important. The stories countries tell about themselves influence what people notice, what they believe is possible and whether they believe their contribution can make a difference. Reflecting on Jetten’s call, economist Anand Kulkarni put it beautifully: **“Narratives must also be about belief as the quotes from the leaders show. A belief that things can and will be better, a commitment to the belief through actions, policies and practices that can be shared by all.”** That gets to the heart of an Optimistic National Narrative. The story matters because the belief matters, and belief becomes credible when we express it through what we do. A national narrative cannot live on rhetoric alone. A credible optimistic national narrative needs capable institutions, credible choices and visible progress in people’s lives. Leaders can make possibility visible and invite contribution. Results make optimism more believable. For Australia, that means telling the truth about our challenges while remembering our considerable strengths and our capacity to improve. For Jetten, the expression is *Het kan wél*: **“It can be done.”** For Luxon, New Zealand is a country of **“perpetual improvement”.** For Tharman, the global task is to rebuild the foundations of optimism. Jetten’s wave need not stop at the Dutch border. Every community, organisation and country could be asking: *What would strengthen an optimistic and credible belief in a better future? What possibilities are we overlooking? What can we do today?* And then there is a question for each of us: **How can we help flood the world with optimism and hope?** Start where you have influence. **Tell a better story. Make possibility visible. Encourage someone. Strengthen confidence. Take the next wise step.**   **Want to Make a Comment?**   [Written by Victor Perton](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/author/victor-perton) [![](https://20315204.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20315204/ThirtyFour%20Creative/Images/FB%20(4).png)](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.saltedstone.com%2Fblog%2Fbenefits-limitations-of-earned-media-vs-paid-media&linkname=Benefits%20and%20Limitations%20of%20Earned%20Media%20vs.%20Paid%20Media&linknote=) [![](https://20315204.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20315204/ThirtyFour%20Creative/Images/Twitter%20Copy%20(4).png)](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.saltedstone.com%2Fblog%2Fbenefits-limitations-of-earned-media-vs-paid-media&linkname=Benefits%20and%20Limitations%20of%20Earned%20Media%20vs.%20Paid%20Media&linknote=) [![](https://20315204.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20315204/ThirtyFour%20Creative/Images/linkedin%20(1).png)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/#linkedin) ##### Keep up to date with the latest from Centre for Optimism ##### We appreciate any contribution you can make to help us spread optimism with the world #### Here are some similar articles ###### [Leadership](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/leadership) , ###### [Deliberate Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/deliberate-optimism) , ###### [Intelligent Water Networks](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/intelligent-water-networks) #### [Leading Excellence in Innovation: Deliberate Optimism Creates Value](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/leadinginnovation?hsLang=en) [Read Article](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/leadinginnovation?hsLang=en) ###### [Leadership](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/leadership) , ###### [Persistent Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/persistent-optimism) , ###### [Resilience](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/resilience) #### [Chris Penk on the Nature of Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/penk?hsLang=en) [Read Article](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/penk?hsLang=en) ###### [Leadership](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/leadership) , ###### [Happiness](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/happiness) , ###### [Success](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/tag/success) #### [Binod Atreya: Optimism is a Mindset that Leads to Success in our Lives](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/binod?hsLang=en) [Read Article](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/binod?hsLang=en) ## Connect With Us ##### We love to connect with everyone who is ready to open up and share their optimisim. - [![Facebook 2](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/Center%20of%20Optimism%20Assets/Facebook%202.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/optimistsvoices/) - [![instagram (6)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/instagram%20(6).svg)](https://www.instagram.com/centreforoptimism/?hl=en) - [![linked in 2](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/linked%20in%202.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/centreforoptimism/) - [![youtube (3)](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/youtube%20(3).svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFd4GnToz3WLasQSfsz_z8w) - [![twitter](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/twitter.svg)](https://twitter.com/Centre4Optimism) #### Keep up to date with the latest from The Centre for Optimism ##### Contact Us Call Us: [+61 417 217 241](tel:+61%20417%20217%20241) (Australia) PO Box 5081, Garden City, Victoria 3207, Australia ##### [The Centre for Optimism](https://www.centreforoptimism.com?hsLang=en) - [Why Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whyoptimism) - [What is Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whatisoptimism) - Why be Optimistic? - Our Advisory board ##### Our Research - What makes People Optimistic? - Transformation and Change - [The Better Normal](https://thecentreforoptimism.wildapricot.org/The-Better-Normal) - Strategy and Optimism ##### Join Us - Become a Patron - Join the Optimism Movement - Volunteer ##### [Services](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/workshop?hsLang=en) - [The Optimism Workshop](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/workshop) - The Optimism Roundtable - Beacons Of Optimism Workshop - [The Habits of an Optimist](https://www.projectoptimism.com.au/courses/optimism-can-be-learnt-the-habits-of-an-optimist/) ##### The Centre for Optimism - [Why Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whyoptimism) - [What is Optimism?](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/whatisoptimism) - Why be Optimistic? - Our Advisory board ##### Our Research - What makes People Optimistic? - Transformation and Change - [The Better Normal](https://thecentreforoptimism.wildapricot.org/The-Better-Normal) - Strategy and Optimism ##### Join Us - Become a Patron - Join the Optimism Movement - Volunteer ##### Services - [The Optimism Workshop](https://www.centreforoptimism.com/workshop) - The Optimism Roundtable - Beacons Of Optimism Workshop - [The Habits of an Optimist](https://www.projectoptimism.com.au/courses/optimism-can-be-learnt-the-habits-of-an-optimist/) ©2026 The Centre for Optimism - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Victor Perton", "url" : "https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/author/victor-perton" }, "dateModified" : "2026-09-30T21:37:54.025Z", "datePublished" : "2026-09-30T20:45:50.000Z", "headline" : "Flood the Netherlands With Optimism: The Dutch PM’s Challenge", "image" : [ "https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Graffiti%20on%20Dutch%20Dyke%20Flooding%20Netherlands%20With%20Optimism.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/flood", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.centreforoptimism.com/hubfs/Centre%20for%20Optimism_Logo.svg" }, "name" : "The Centre for Optimism" } } ```