Books by Christian Madsbjerg

A FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH (APRIL 2017)Humans have become subservient to algorithms. Every day brings a new Moneyball fix - a maths whiz who will crack open an industry with clean fact-based analysis rather than human intuition and experience. As a result, we have stopped thinking. Machines do it for us. Christian Madsbjerg argues that our fixation with data often masks stunning deficiencies, and the risks for humankind are enormous. Blind devotion to number crunching imperils our businesses, our educations, our governments, and our life savings. Too many companies have lost touch with the humanity of their customers, while marginalising workers with arts-based skills. Contrary to popular thinking, Madsbjerg shows how many of today's biggest success stories stem not from 'quant' thinking but from deep, nuanced engagement with culture, language, and history. He calls his method sensemaking. In this landmark book, Madsbjerg lays out five principles for how business leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals can use it to solve their thorniest problems. He profiles companies using sensemaking to connect with new customers, and takes readers inside the work process of sensemaking 'connoisseurs' like investor George Soros, architect Bjarke Ingels, and others. Both practical and philosophical, Sensemaking is a powerful rejoinder to corporate groupthink and an indispensable resource for leaders and innovators who want to stand out from the pack.

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.In The Moment of Clarity, Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel Rasmussen examine the business world’s assumptions about human behavior and show how these assumptions can lead businesses off track. But the authors chart a way forward. Using theories and tools from the human sciences—anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and psychology—The Moment of Clarity introduces a practical framework called sensemaking. Sensemaking’s nonlinear problem-solving approach gives executives a better way to understand business challenges involving shifts in human behavior.This new methodology, a fundamentally different way to think about strategy, is already taking off in Fortune 100 companies around the world. Through compelling case studies and their direct experience with LEGO, Samsung, Adidas, Coloplast, and Intel, Madsbjerg and Rasmussen will show you how to solve problems as diverse as setting company direction, driving growth, improving sales models, understanding the real culture of your organization, and finding your way in new markets. Over and over again, executives say the same thing after engaging in a process of sensemaking: “Now I see it . . .” This experience—the moment of clarity—has the potential to drive the entire strategic future of your company. Isn’t it time you and your firm started getting people right?Learn more about the innovation and strategy work of ReD Associates at: redassociates.com

I en verden, hvor algoritmer og kunstig intelligens anses for at være løsningen på alt, er mennesket blevet synonymt med fejl og uforudsigelighed. Men den nuværende besættelse af algoritmer og big data er foruroligende, mener forretningsrådgiveren Christian Madsbjerg. I sin nye bog, Sensemaking, tager han et provokerende opgør med beundringen af Silicon Valley og samtidens ekstremt stærke tro på de formelle videnskabers forklaringsevne. Ved hjælp af interviews med bl.a. investor George Soros, arkitekt Bjarke Ingels og EU-kommissær Margrethe Vestager beskriver han, hvordan virksomheder og ledere i stedet er nødt til at bruge menneskelige egenskaber – vores menneskelige intelligens, om man vil – for at løse de udfordringer, de står overfor. Som medstift er af ReD Associates har Christian Madsbjerg arbejdet for nogle af verdens største virksomheder, deriblandt Ford, WalMart, LEGO, Adidas, Chanel, Procter and Gamble og Coca Cola, for at hjælpe dem med at løse nogle af deres vanskeligste udfordringer og med at udvikle klare fremtidsstrategier. Og hvordan har han gjort det? Madsbjerg kalder sin metode for sensemaking (meningsskabelse), og i bogen gennemgår han metodens fem bærende principper, som kan anvendes af alle – lige fra ledere og politikere til undervisere, iværksættere og andre, der har interesse i at forstå, hvordan ægte forandring kan finde sted i den digitale tidsalder.

Med stor international succes har Christian Madsbjerg og Mikkel B. Rasmussen flyttet virksomheders fokus, så de kigger lige så meget på mennesker som på økonomiske nøgletal. Ved at studere menneskelig adfærd kan virksomheder lettere justere forretningen, når markedet pludselig ændrer sig, eller kunderne begynder at ændre vaner.Christian Madsbjerg og Mikkel B. Rasmussen, som står bag Red Associates, har lært flere førende forbrugervirksomheder at se deres kunder som virkelige personer, og hjulpet dem med at udvikle strategier på det grundlag. Læs blandt andet om, hvordan LEGO, Addidas, Samsung og Intel har fornyet deres forretningsmodel og tjent styrtende på det.Velkommen til en verden, hvor indsigt i mennesker skaber hårde resultater.