PODCAST
PHENOMENA - Season two is live
How are the algorithms in our lives holding us back? What are the most pressing problems of urban residents businesses can help resolve? What can other sectors learn from how the luxury industry is getting sustainability right?
These are some of the questions we unpack in season two of the Phenomena podcast, which explores how a deep understanding of human behaviour can help shape better business strategy. During each episode, ReD partner Eliot Salandy Brown interviews colleagues and industry experts on the biggest human and cultural topics of our time, to reveal how they are often misunderstood and how the social sciences can help businesses get them right. All episodes
WORK
‘Work’ Who owns nine to five?
Employers across a variety of industries are grappling with dilemmas on how to define the future of work. They are each seeking to get right the big questions around how to attract and retain future talent, what the workspace should ideally look and feel like; the development of a distinct culture in a time of remote or hybrid work; and how to maintaining performance while also being flexible to accommodate their employees’ work-life needs. The meaning and purpose of work are in flux, as the nine-to-five workdays and commutes of the pre-pandemic past get reimagined. Given all these thorny dilemmas, the social worlds of our workplace are an important inflection point.
ReD Dialogue event in Copenhagen in August with Ulla Riber Head of Workplace Management at ISS and Booker price nominated author Olga Ravn. Moderated by Mads Holme
Industry perspectives
‘Perspectives’ is a place for us to share an original perspective on what problems to solve for, and not to solve. We highlight the social science methods and insights that drive our thinking. And challenge conventional assumptions around people’s experiences and needs in the world today.
LATEST IN PERSPECTIVES
Deep Listening — Disclosing the Unsaid | More videos
featured press
Opinion piece
The Economist: For the Money, Not the Few
As wealth managers attempt to tailor business-class investment services to the masses, banks, brokers and tech buffs vie to look after trillions of dollars on behalf of the common man. ReD’s Martin Gronemann weighs in for The Economist.
“‘People’s relationship with money is broken,’ says Martin Gronemann of ReD Associates, which uses anthropology to advise businesses. It reckons that personal finances are a bigger source of stress than worries about crime or health.””
Feature
Quartz: How anthropology can heal the anxiety of our broken relationship with money
Partners at ReD Associates talk about how anthropology can heal the anxiety of our broken relationship with money.
“If you think all it takes is mobile banking then you’re in trouble because everyone is doing that.”
“[..] if businesses accept pure data as the only truth, they are in danger of losing their ability to understand people. But it is by no means the author’s aim to dismiss stem subjects. Through his particular method, his intention is to help companies find the right balance. The best CEOs can read a novel and a spreadsheet.”
— Financial Times
books
Sensemaking
Sensemaking is the new book by ReD Associates’ partner Christian Madsbjerg, with Hachette Book Group out on March 2017. Inspired by his work with companies like Ford and Coca-Cola, Madsbjerg's Sensemaking is a provocative stand against the "tyranny" of the algorithm and an impassioned argument that human intelligence, informed by the study of the humanities, remains essential to success. We live in the age of algorithms. But what happens when number crunching fails to solve a company's problems?
The Moment
of Clarity
Businesses need a new type of problem solving. Why? Because they are getting people wrong. Traditional problem-solving methods taught in business schools serve us well for some of the everyday challenges of business, but they tend to be ineffective with problems involving a high degree of uncertainty. Why? Because, more often than not, these tools are based on a flawed model of human behavior. And that flawed model is the invisible scaffolding that supports our surveys, our focus groups, our R&D, and much of our long-term strategic planning.
Aletheia — Illuminating Worlds
This publication highlights the ReD Associates “Five Lenses” approach, with a focus on the first lens -- the Company. We have collaborated with art photographer Alastair Philip Wiper, who has visited three of our clients to explore how the world looks inside companies, and how consumer products are created.
careers
We are always looking for remarkable people
We are excited for creative and reflective minds to join us at ReD Associates. Our consultants help the world’s leading organisations overcome their biggest challenges. At every step throughout their careers, we support our consultants in sharpening their analytical and leadership skills. Go to Careers page