Cognitive Edge News
Cognitive Edge Guest Blog
Our Guest Blogger for the next two weeks is Willem Brethouwer. Willem is experience in almost all aspects of industrial and consumer marketing research, i.e. qualitative and quantitative research. Specialization in image research, positioning studies, and tracking studies, especially in the field of face-to-face and telephone (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) research. He is also experienced in international research (Multiple Country Research) for several internationally oriented clients. Experience in international research, food, non-food and automotive research, on European advertising research, product-testing, image research, testmarketing, price-research on an ad-hoc as well as a continuous basis. Working on brand positioning studies in the USA. Within MarketResponse (> 100 employees) responsible as management director for international acquisition, account management, personnel & organisation, and supervision of MarketResponse International USA (Minneapolis), MarketResponse International Germany (Heidelberg) and MarketResponse International Belgium (Gent).
3 July 2009
Talking machines
Yesterday a had a very interesting “engagement” with a parking ticket machine. I visited the ministry of Health Care and Sports ( yes they go together in the Netherlands) and I drove my car in the parking house , drew a ticket at the entrance ( visa was also an option, but I refused to lean backwards to find my wallet in my jacket) and parked my car at 10.50. The purpose for my visit was a briefing with the program manager ‘ZichtbareZorg’ (transparent Healthcare), a large quality transparence project on the subject of quality indicators. A huge complex problem that needs strong management and leadership but encounters a large amount of frustration, irritation and so on from the hospital quality managers who need to respond to the Government’s wants and needs.
30 June 2009
29 June 2009
I started my first blog end of March last year. As a market researcher I’m obsessed with figures. As a co founder of MarketResponse, a market research and consultancy in the Netherlands I discovered at that time that on the first of February next year, my company will celebrate its 25th birthday. Now as I started to write blog I found out two things. First of all that the countdown to the previously mentioned birthday was 666 days. Well, that is a message in itself isn’t it? Great coincidence or some bad guidance from hell? I did not know until I wrote down the birthday in figures (in Dutch annotation: 01022010. A Palindrome
14 June 2009
Thanks a lot, see you....
It is my last day as a guest blog. Also this has been my first blogging experience… I found it much more difficult to blog than I originally envisaged. I was always struggling to find the right reflective spirit (at the correct time) and to correct way to express the ideas once I had them… I think I will try to blog a little more and see what comes of it. After reading Outliners, I need to give it at least 10000 hours before becoming an expert, so still 9998 hours to go…
Also I was also a little hesitant to talk about some personal stuff (I guess I would have liked to talk more about my family and our children and our fights with the educational systems), not sure why, often I have deleted some personal blogs after writing them, I am not capable of writing in the right way, specially personal stuff (I guess if I was I would be writing “The Road”). All in all it has been a very good experience and I have really enjoyed. And I think I will give it a real go at it…
Yours
Luca
13 June 2009
Obama - UK
I am not English as many of you know, but I have been living in UK for the best part of 13 years now. I think the current political climate in UK needs some reflection. The Labour party is crumbling down. On that point, I just want to digress for a second, Tony Blair timing has always amazed me. Within 12 months of him living, the world seems to come to an end (political, economical social crises of unprecedented scale happened as soon as he left the PM job), not I cannot understand how that happened…. I cannot believe it is simply luck. I think, he just felt that things were not going to go his way any longer and he left (a bit like the great investors who get out just at the right time, they can “sense” the environment and profit from it). Now enough with the digression
I really take objection (even though I cannot vote) to have a PM who is not elected and claims to be the right man for the job, on absolutely no grounds. I also think that the “victory|” of parties like the BNP should really give politicians some food for thoughts. How bad can things be, if people do vote for the BNP. I guess UK would need an Obama, a figure who is capable to voice the people concerns, express and connect, in other words a good story tellers, who tells story people want to listen to…. The issue with UK politics is that the stories are simply not worth listening to…. Let’s hope somebody will come out of the crisis to help UK out of the current hole it is in (often crisis are very good in this….)
Luca
The theme of justice permeated today. One would have expected an apology and a degree of contriteness after five Lions were hospitalised following the second test, but instead the Springboks all wore armbands with the word Justice in a protest against disciplinary action against one of their number. The Lions response, equally the previous highest score in victory was an appropriate response. While I can admire the skill of individual players, the institutionalised violence and endorsement by a coach (who seems to be hovering on the brink of insanity) was a disgrace to Rugby and not the actions that will encourage young people to take up the game. Rugby will, and should always be a physical game but it should not be a license for violence. That applies to any club or country, to Ebbw Vale in the 70s as much as to the Boks in the current era.
It's been an interesting few weeks managing a narrative capture in the UK and Pakistan, interpreting the material and writing the report. I freely admit that I have been moved to tears reading some of the material from refugee camps. Reading material from 14 year olds talking about the suffering of others, when they face displacement and immanent violence, is a sobering experience. The pilot is now complete, and I can catch up on multiple emails and other work which has been ignored under the pressure of a sustained period of 18 hour days. I should also get back into the habit of updating this blog daily. This week I have been in Wales working on the definition phase of a series of possible pilot projects looking at the impact of Government on the people. More of those in the future if they move forward. For the moment I was reflecting on displacement, a sense of Hiraeth that comes on with increasing strength these days. Hiraeth is another of those welsh words, like Cynefin that have no literal translation, the nearest is a sense of longing, a desire to return to the place of your multiple belongings.