ReD Associates

Last week, Dr. Shawna Gann invited ReD Associates to speak with the MBA class at Bard College about the critical role of culture in successful change management. ReD's Ujjwal Gupta and Cameron W. shared case studies and insights on how intentionally managing culture is key to driving value creation – whether in private equity investments, M&A integrations, or major philanthropic initiatives. Thank you, Bard College, for the engaging discussion with your thoughtful students! #strategy #culture #changemanagement

The ReD Forecast 2025: a behavioural weather report From the Cybertruck to cheeseburgers, Moo Deng to mega-mergers, ReD partners share their thoughts on the biggest moments, conversations, and shifts of 2024, and how they see these playing out in 2025 in culture and business. What’s the bigger story beyond the headline, the underlying consequence of the passing fad, the cultural moment that’s set to widen into a social phenomenon? Here, we identify twelve significant shifts we think leaders should take note of. #culture #strategy #socialscience

Check out our new page dedicated to our Social Theory in the Boardroom series, from ReD's Markus Sundell and Charlotte Taomi Behrens, where you can now read all our posts in one place. At ReD Associates, we often draw on social theory to illuminate the complexities of today's business challenges. The Social Theory in the Board Room series embodies our commitment to applying these concepts creatively in ways their originators might never have imagined – or even deemed acceptable. Throughout this year, we have shared fifteen examples across three themes using this methodology: taking concepts from social theory and purposefully reframing them to address concrete business challenges from promoting a healthy work environment, to upskilling employees to building company culture. While our methods may stray from scholarly norms, they serve as a creative instrument – a tool to inspire fresh perspectives on complex problems and unlock new ways of understanding the world around us. While reading, think of our approach as reimagining – using theoretical frameworks not as rigid doctrines but as springboards for provocative, practical, and transformative thinking. Thank you to everyone who followed along and contributed to the conversation this year. Hit the link below to see all fifteen posts – and happy reading! https://lnkd.in/ewUv_eVZ

ReD Perspective: Seeing It from Other Eyes: How First-Person Data Reshapes the Role of the Applied Ethnographer You can now read one of our papers presented at this year's EPICpeople, on how first-person data can afford new possibilities for anthropology and the social sciences to capture and work with longitudinal, immersive, behavioural data at scale. Authored by Maria Cury, Ariel Abonizio, Gabriel Coren, Maya Potter, Tamara Moellenberg, Mikkel Krenchel and Eryn Whitworth (of Meta Reality Labs Research), they propose that first-person data is not only a lens for new insights but a chance to rethink how we study human experience altogether. First-person data allows researchers to capture immersive, real-time interactions and behaviours, providing unprecedented access to longitudinal and nuanced human experiences that traditional methods might miss. By integrating these methods, ethnographers can achieve a more holistic understanding of individual and social behaviours, with big implications on the development of next-generation technologies in fields such as computer vision and AI. "First-person data offers a different kind of access to (and angle into) human experience," they write. "We believe that with the availability of this exceptional lens into human experience, ethnographic attention to and experimentation with these new tools and data will be a necessity, not an option, for ethnography’s continued relevance." Read the full article by hitting the link below. https://lnkd.in/epF-Qu6M #strategy #socialsciences #data

ReD Perspective // Where are all the social use cases for AI? In the race to build AI applications that help ‘me’ instead of ‘us’, are we overlooking what might be its most valuable potential? Read our latest blog post as ReD's Mikkel Krenchel and Morgan Ramsey-Elliot outline their perspective on why solving loneliness with AI friends is a bit like trying to solve hunger with fast food and why AI's true superpower is social. "At ReD," they write, "instead of artificial intelligence we often talk about collective intelligence. We believe this is the most significant emergent capability of current LLMs to date – the ability to draw on humanity’s collective wisdom to give you the most ‘normal’ or ‘average’ response possible, without the eccentricities, performances and judgemental gaze of a human being. The AI wave has proven that when it comes to humanity, “normal” is often great. And this is where AI’s superpower lies: it can explain or instantly communicate what “normal” looks like in a given context." Seen in this context, a "multiplayer AI" has the potential go beyond the individual and to open up new forms of collaboration and encourage serendipitous and meaningful human connections in ways that humans never could.  Read the full article below and let us know your thoughts. #strategy #AI #technology https://lnkd.in/eNqrxKVn

Social theory in the boardroom // Strengthen culture through friction In the final instalment of the year of our Social Theory in the Boardroom series – where we creatively reimagine and recontextualise ancient philosophies and social theories in the workplace – we take inspiration from philosopher Byung-Chul Han to unlock new ways companies might consider introducing productive friction to boost critical thought and engagement among their employees. In Han's theory of "smoothness", he claims that contemporary aesthetics, culture, and social relations are characterised by smoothness and ease. "On first reflection," writes ReD's Markus Sundell and Charlotte Taomi Behrens , "having a 'smooth' company culture might seem like a good thing. However, completely removing friction can lead to a lack of critical thought, less creativity, and feeling alienated both as employees and customers." Read on to find out more! #socialtheory #strategy #culture

EPICpeople 2024 papers and case studies are now available to read! Among the suite of content EPIC have published from this year's conference – on the themes of "Foundations, Displacement, Generation" – we're delighted to present two papers: Seeing It from Other Eyes: How First-Person Data Reshapes the Role of the Applied Ethnographer by ReD's Maria Cury, Ariel Abonizio, Gabriel Coren, Maya Potter, Tamara Moellenberg, Mikkel Krenchel and Eryn Whitworth from Meta Reality Labs. What's Going on with Strategic Research in Big Tech? by ReD's Morgan Ramsey-Elliot, Charlie Lotterman and Cameron W.. We'll speak about these papers in more detail in the coming weeks but in the meantime, go and check out all the amazing case studies, papers and pecha kuchas on EPIC's website!

ReD Podcast // Episode 4 of Leading with Perspective is now live! How has the financial sector looked to regain trust with consumers and play a more meaningful role in people's lives? In this episode, we are joined by Camilla Dahl Hansen who was most recently with Saxo Bank where she held a number of roles including its Global Chief Saxo Experience Officer and Senior Executive Vice President. Before that, Camilla spent 14 years with Danske Bank as the Head of Group Marketing and SVP for Wealth Management with focus on marketing, communications, transformation, and strategy. Joined by ReD partner Martin Gronemann, Camilla discusses the state of the financial sector today, particularly with regards to where it is on its journey to becoming more inclusive of women both on the customer side and at the organisational level. If we look back over the last 15 years, how have things changed? And what has stayed the same? Hit the link below to listen or head to wherever you like to get your podcasts. https://lnkd.in/ectTNDNx #strategy #finance #podcast

"When you talk about women and finance in combination, these two are not in sync and not at all where we need to be." Tomorrow our latest episode of Leading With Perspective will go live featuring Camilla Dahl Hansen, a senior financial executive with a wealth of experience in the sector, who most recently worked as Saxo Bank's Chief Experience Officer. She sits down with ReD partner Martin Gronemann to discuss the state of the financial sector today, particularly with regards to engaging with customers more meaningfully, as well as where it is on its journey to becoming more inclusive of women both as consumers and senior leaders within the industry. Listen to a teaser below and stay tuned for the episode release tomorrow! #strategy #finance #podcast

"So you could really tell how the mom was able to, together with the staff, make play happen.. But then we held that up against all the other data with all the other families who didn't do that... And that gap was of course very inspiring because it showed a lot of potential. But it was also very tough to see because it's a big gap in the experience of the different children." ReD partner Iago Noguer Storgaard speaks about how integrating play into treatment influences the patient experience at our recent ReD Dialogue, "Healing by design: How to create a world-class children's hospital." He spoke alongside Thomas Frandsen and Elisabeth Ida Ginsberg (Chief Medical Officer and Chief Project Manger at the Mary Elizabeth Children's hospital respectively) as well as ReD partner Anne Mette Worsøe Lottrup. In 2026, the Mary Elizabeth Hospital in Copenhagen will open to the public. It is a hospital that will revolutionise the experience for children, teens, pregnant women and their relatives before, during and after treatment. And they are doing this by centering the hospital all around play. In the meantime, you can visit Danish Industri where there is an exhibition about the hospital’s unique vision which is free and open to all during weekdays for the rest of the year. Watch the clip below. #healthcare #authority #play