Christian Madsbjerg
NationalityDanish
Occupation(s)Writer
Consultant

Christian Madsbjerg is a Danish author, anthropologist, and consultant.

Books

The Moment of Clarity

In his 2014 book The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Business Problems (co-authored with Mikkel Rasmussen), Madsbjerg advocates that using approaches from disciplines like philosophy and anthropology are suited to analyzing corporate culture and behavior.[1] He argues that understanding shifts in consumer behavior requires the qualitative data that comes from trained human observers. This provides what they call “thick data”, which seeks the meaning of those shifts.[2][3][4] The concepts from the book were later adapted into an article for the Harvard Business Review entitled “An Anthropologist Walks into a Bar”.[5]

Sensemaking

In 2016, Madsbjerg published the book Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm,[6] which uses a combination of philosophy and entrepreneurial thinking.[7] The book draws its examples from Madsbjerg's own career as well as interviews with other individuals.[8]

Look

In 2023 Madsbjerg published the book Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World, which is based on a class he taught called “Human Observation” at The New School in New York City.[9] The book includes the concept of “hyper-reflection”, what he defines as the meta-skill of learning to see how other people see. According to Madsbjerg, there are three different types of attention, and hyper reflection is the one that requires the most skill and practice.[10] In a review of the book in The Wall Street Journal, author Meghan Cox Gurdon stated that Madsbjerg “attempts to impart the wisdom he has acquired from art and philosophy and from the practical experience of running a corporate consultancy.”[9]

Consulting

Madsbjerg's consultancy work was covered in the book Cultural Anthropology by Serena Nanda and Richard Warms, focusing on the use of ethnographic research in his work with Lego.[11] His work was also covered in Matthew Engelke's book How to Think Like an Anthropologist, specifically his work in the pharmaceutical industry.[12]

In 2005, Madsbjerg founded ReD Associates with Mikkel Rasmussen in Copenhagen.[13][14] Using methodologies like ethnographic research and phenomenology, ReD Associates has been described by some as a “human science” consultancy.[15][16]

References

  1. ↑ Diana Hoyt (November 2014). "The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Problems". Research Technology Management.
  2. ↑ "What to Read This Month". Financial Times. July 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ Martin Schwirn (2021). "Small Data, Big Disruptions: How to Spot Signals of Change and Manage Uncertainty". Red Wheel/Weiser. p. 9.
  4. ↑ Norman K. Denzin and Michael D. Giardina (2021). "Collaborative Futures in Qualitative Inquiry: Research in a Pandemic". Routledge. p. 127.
  5. ↑ Joy Hendry (2017). "An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Sharing Our Worlds". Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 335.
  6. ↑ Peter Forbes (March 26, 2017). "Sunday Book - Sensemaking - A book that uses 'thick data' to challenge algorithms". The Arts Desk.
  7. ↑ "Review: Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm". Publishers Weekly.
  8. ↑ Laurie Grobman, E. Michele Ramsey (2020). "Major Decisions: College, Career, and the Case for the Humanities". University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 58.
  9. 1 2 Meghan Cox Gurdon (July 24, 2023). "'Look' Review: Life as It Is, Blinkers Removed". Wall Street Journal.
  10. ↑ Stephanie Bozza (July 26, 2023). "How hyper-reflection can help you improve your focus". Fast Company.
  11. ↑ Serena Nanda and Richard L. Warms (2023). "Cultural Anthropology". SAGE Publications. p. 316.
  12. ↑ Matthew Engelke (2019). "How to Think Like an Anthropologist". Princeton University Press. p. 22.
  13. ↑ Dan Podjed, Meta Gorup, Pavel Borecký, and Carla Guerrón Montero (2020). "Why the World Needs Anthropologists". Routledge. p. 13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Michiru Nagatsu and Attilia Ruzzene (2019). "Contemporary Philosophy and Social Science: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue". Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 201.
  15. ↑ Greg Morgan (2019). "Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence: How Leaders Can Thrive in Complex, Confusing and Contradictory Times". Emerald Group Publishing. p. 99.
  16. ↑ George Anders (2017). "You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a "Useless" Liberal Arts Education". Little Brown. p. 184.
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