by david allan van nostrand | Mar 7, 2022 | Items in the News, Research
The French coined the phrase ‘burning the candle at both ends’ in the 1600s, using it to mean dissipating one’s material wealth. Candles were expensive and anyone who burned them at both ends was guilty of wasting valuable resources. Over time, the phrase evolved to...
by david allan van nostrand | Nov 1, 2021 | Items in the News, Research
That quizzical look on dogs’ faces when they cock their heads at an angle always makes for a great photo. A story on the science.org website says that when dogs cock their heads like this, they are doing more than just being cute. A first-ever study that looked into...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 15, 2021 | Focus Groups, Misinformation traps, Research
Apple has been doing lots of consumer research for a long time. Wait a minute, you say, that’s not true! You read the Fortune magazine interview where he was supposed to have said Apple never used consumer research. You might even remember his quip, “It isn’t the...
by david allan van nostrand | Nov 16, 2020 | Agile, Research
When people ask me if I’ve ever done agile research, they say “AGILE” as if it should be capitalized, underlined, and in italics. Their emphasis implies it is something quite new and mysterious. My response is to say I’ve been recommending agile...
by david allan van nostrand | Jul 20, 2020 | Organizational Behavior, Research, Surveys, The Myopia of Experts
A guild was an association of craftsmen or merchants formed for the furtherance of their professional interests. Guilds began in ancient Rome and came to prominence in the Middle Ages. Operating at the city level, they were organized by profession, such as...
by david allan van nostrand | Jan 13, 2020 | Gatekeepers, How to tell good research from bad, Items in the News, Research
With hundreds of thousands of employee training options to choose from, companies are struggling to figure out how to tell the worthwhile programs from those that are a waste of money. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Home Depot’s Lesley Leiserson, who manages...