Liaisons

The hedgehog revisited

2009-08-14T23:01:00.003+02:00

I was talking to the editors at Sekwa publications, that translated and published L'élegance du hérisson, Muriel Barbery, in Swedish. I understood that a 2nd and 3rd print had been requested, so far reaching a volume of 18.000. A recent article about the publishing house and it's success here (in Swedish). Naturally, I have read the book and enjoyed the story about the friendship between Renée, the concierge in bourgeois Paris and Paloma, a twelve-year old girl living in the building, two extraordinarily intelligent individuals (women). Soon, Mr Ozu, a courteous Japanese man, is moving into the building and join their little circle of friends. It's sweet, it's insightful and even funny. My main critique was that I have read too many books lately switching narrative perspectives between different caracters in every second chapter. During summer I saw the movie, too. Instead of keeping her diary, Paloma is here filming her family member to their nuisance. Even though Josiane Balasko is doing a great performance as Renée I preferred the book.

The hedgehog, now in Swedish

2009-04-27T22:25:00.003+02:00

The French novel the Elegance of the Hedgehog (L'Elégance du hérisson) by Muriel Barbery has now been published in Swedish: Igelkottens elegans . Critics were good and the book went straight to the top of the sales as most popular book at the internet bookstore adlibris. However, while the sales in France exceeded a million books, the Swedish edition is quite modest: 6500 for a start .

Guerlain Cravings

2009-04-07T19:56:00.002+02:00

Oh, I just discovered this amazing coffret with a selection of 18 fragrances from Guerlain...

Shifts

2009-02-24T11:20:00.003+01:00

I joined the Swedish group blog Skiften (in Swedish), blogging about the future society, shifts and disruptive evolution. There is 6 of us blogging and we comment on each others posts, and receive comments from readers, check it out!

Perfume - the Story of a Murderer

2009-01-15T21:17:00.003+01:00

Too much nano- and microblogging and too little blogging lately. Still, I read the Perfume - the Story of a Murderer (1985), Patrick Süskind. I don't know what took me so long, it's a precious gem that turns around Jean-Baptise Grenouille in 18th century France. If it was originally written in French I would definitely had gone for that version, but no (it's in German). The novel explores the function of scent and contains quite a lot of technical descriptions of scent extraction, but not too much. Grenouille, born without any odour whatsoever, has an amazing sense of smell. He becomes an apprentice in the making of perfume and leaves Paris for Grasse, on a quest for the ultimate human scent.

A Year of Creativity and Innovation!

2008-12-12T22:34:00.003+01:00

The next year has already started and in the European Union it will be the year of creativity and innovation, just great! The European Year of Creativity and Innovation has the objective to raise awareness of importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development, to disseminate good practices, stimulate education and research, and promote policy debate and development.

Pattern Recognition

2008-11-25T00:46:00.001+01:00

"We have no future because our present is too volatile. […] We have only risk management. The spinning of the given moment's scenarios. Pattern Recognition." /William Gibson

August Prize Laureates 2008

2008-11-25T00:15:00.005+01:00

Per Olov Enquist received tonight the Swedish August literary award for his novel and autoportrait Ett annat liv (Another life), (Norstedts). This was his second time as August Prize laureate. In the category of non-fiction it was by Paul Duncan & Bengt Wanselius who received the August Prize for Regi Bergman (Bokförlaget Max Ström) about Ingmar Bergman's life long work and achievements. It is a heavy masterpiece!

The Sky is the limit

2008-08-12T19:36:00.002+02:00

Summer reading

2008-08-12T18:59:00.005+02:00

One Swedish novel that I read over summer and can recommend is "Motljus" by Annika Thor (born in 1950). Previously a well known author of books for youth, this is her first piece written for adults. In focus is a woman who reads the death notice of a man and ex-lover in the newspaper, which makes her recall the hot summers in the 70s when they were several friends to cohabitate in a summerhouse. The novel swings between the present and the 70s in every second chapter, a grip that is familiar and not very innovative but the author does pretty well. It's the stories from back then that are the driving ones, though.
Annika Thor received the literary award Augustpriset in 1997 and her novels have been translated into several languages.

Summer absence

2008-08-12T18:38:00.004+02:00

Yes, I have been on vacation and offline - totally hot!

Spicy summer trend

2008-06-25T23:51:00.003+02:00

The theme in my last perfume sniffing in Paris was clearly spicy. Un jardin après la mousson, Hermès, is said to be dominated by watermelon but to me the spicy scents of ginger, cloves and pepper are as significant as anything else. Also L'eau de l'eau, Diptyque, is less ozon-like than expected - instead the warm cardemom sweeps you away. As do the scent of chai-tea in Stephanie de Saint-Aignan's Berberiades Extreme.

Alain Robbe-Grillet

2008-02-24T19:26:00.003+01:00

This week Alain Robbe-Grillet left us at the age of 86 years old, productive since his debute as an author in the 1950s. I met with him in Göteborg in 2003 at a seminar around his book "La Reprise". Many authors write to tell their story, while as Robbe-Grillet wrote to discover the world. One of his main characteristics was the optic; detailed descriptions of what could be perceived. Not surprisingly, one of the early titles was "Le voyeur" (1955). According to Robbe-Grillet it was old-fashioned to focus on plot, action, narrative, ideas, and character. Instead, he put forward a theory of the novel as focused on objects: the ideal nouveau roman would be an individual version and vision of things, subordinating plot and character to the details of the world rather than enlisting the world in their service. Robbe-Grillet was one of the main characters in the movement of the French new novel and published in 1963 the essay "Pour un nouveau roman". Other important figures were Nathalie Sarraute, Claude Simon and Michel Butor. I treated Michel Butor's "L'Emploi du temps" in my thesis in comparative literature and enjoy the complex construction that permits to get a new, deeper or just different, understanding even at the third and fourth re-reading.

Wooden scents

2008-01-29T20:30:00.001+01:00

This weekend I do fragrances dominated by wooden scents, typically of sandalwood and cedar. Patchouli can also be frequently found in these perfumes. More often male fragances than female .
Egoïste, Chanel (1989)
A male fragance with body and caracter, definitely not for a young guy in jeans, rather something for Donald Trump.
Notes de tête: Mandarine, Bois de Rose, Coriandre
Notes de coeur. Rose Turque, Oeillet, Cannelle
Notes de fond: Santal, Vanille, Ambrette
Fahrenheit, Dior (1988)
This is an old favourite, masculin fragance.
Notes de tête: Aubépine, Chèvrefeuille
Notes de coeur: Bois de santal
Notes de fond: Cèdre, Patchouli
Bois d'Arménie, Guerlain (2006)
A calm, sincere, wooden feminine scent that belongs to the L'Art et la Matiere collection. I prefer this one to the more outgoing Cuir de Beluga.
Notes de tête: Encens, Iris. Poivre
Notes de coeur: Bois de Gaïac, Benjoin, Coriandre
Notes de fond: Baume copahu, Patchouli, Musque blanc

Stieg Larsson revisited

2008-01-27T17:18:00.001+01:00

Depuis quelques semaines, et il faut le dire: après une publicité importante, tous les trois tomes de la série Millenium de l'auteur suédois Stieg Larsson se trouvent parmi les top 10 meilleures ventes de livres en France!
Quand j'ai lu le premier volet, Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes, mon impression était qu'il est trop long - si j'étais l'éditeur j'aurais été plus sévère et j'aurais réduit le nombre de pages, il faut parcourir environ 200 pages avant quelquechose se passe de tout . Ce que j'ai estimé le plus, c'est le personnage de Lisbeth Salander. C'est curieux que le portrait de la femme est tellement plus fort que le portrait de Mikael Blomkvist, le personnage principal masculin.

Les Chypres

2008-01-26T22:29:00.000+01:00

Taking up on the review of the groups of scents, this weekend I have come to the chypres.
(Remind you there are oriental, chypres, leather, wood, fougère, green, ozon and floral scents.) Fragrances created using a base of bergamo, oakmoss and labdanum. The accord is named after the French word for Cyprus, where the base was inspired. Like the forest after the rain the chypres are often descibed. Once deep, sweat and heavy, nowadays they are more fresh, for instance with some citrus. Boisés, à la base de mousse de chêne, un mélange d’algue et de champignon. "Comme le forêt après la pluie" on décrit souvent les chypres.

Cabochard, Grès (1959)
Boisé, profond, presque lourd, très spéciale, me fait penser à un musée marin, des navires.
Notes de tête: Galbanum d'Iran, Ylang ylang
Notes de coeur: Roses de Bulgarie, Jasmin de Grasse
Notes de fond: Mousse, Vétiver, Musc, Patchouli
Soir de Lune, Sisley (2006)
Boisé mais plus leger. Agrumes, mimosa et miel dirigent mon association vers du thé.
Notes de tête: Agrumes, Coriandre, Piment, Muscade
Notes de coeur: Rose, Mimosa, Pêche
Notes de fond: Mousse, Patchouli, Miel, Musc, Santal
Yvresse, Yves Saint Laurent(1993)
Fleuri boisé, plus fruité par rapport aux autres. Autrefois nommé Champagne, YSL a dû changer le nom. Néanmoins ce parfum reste gaie et pétillant.
Notes de tête: Pêche, Abricot, Anis Etoilée, Cumin
Notes de coeur: Rose, Oeillet, Cannelle, Jasmin
Notes de fond: Vanille, Styrax, Bois de Cèdre, Castoreum

Editions de Parfums

2008-01-18T17:03:00.000+01:00

If you are going to Paris you might consider to visit Editions de Parfums. Scent boxes makes it an interesting experience. Before you go there, you can get an individual advice via their web site and e-mail. My personal choice is Musc Ravageur (created by Maurice Roucel).
Sensual and sophisticated. Powerful yet perfectly controlled. Dramatic and mysterious. Musc Ravageur is a grown-up perfume, an uncompromising Oriental, which trumps current fads. Its explosive departure of bergamot, tangerine and cinnamon is set against a lusty backdrop of vanilla, musk and amber. No flowers, just a refined and exalted skin scent.

Re-reading the Fifth Discipline

2007-12-16T17:25:00.000+01:00

I ordered Gary Hamel's new book, The Future of Management, to read over Christmas but before it arrived I decided to re-read the classic The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge (1990). If you too need to refresh your memory, the five disciplines are the following:
1. Building shared visions to foster commitment to the long term;
2. mental models that focus on the openness needed to unearth shortcomings in our present ways of seeing the world;
3. team learning that develops the skills of groups to look for the larger picture;
4. personal mastery fosters the personal motivation to continually learn how our actions affect our world;
5. and the fifth discipline is systems thinking, closely linked to a learning organisation.
I wonder how many learning organisations there are out there...too few...
To me it is obvious that organisations dealing with knowledge on high-level should develop as learning organisations. And yet, many managers seem to run them as factories.

Def: Systems thinking is a methodology evolving from the application of system dynamics; a strategic simulation tool aimed at mapping and modelling the global interaction of processes, information feedback and policy across organisational sectors. It is being used widely in health and social care to design sustainable patient outcomes and to assist the attainment of performance targets for all service agencies along whole patient pathways. It can help to test new policies and to eliminate those which might have unintended consequences for the system as a whole. It also creates learning and communication for new-world ideas and insights.

Systems thinking teaches that there are two types of complexity: the detailed complexity and the dynamic complexity. The Fifth discipline primarily deals with the latter, the dynamic one.

Oriental scents

2007-12-16T15:56:00.001+01:00

The festive winter season is perfect for the oriental scents that are most of the times heavy and more suitable for evening and night rather than work. A large fragrance class, featuring the scents of vanilla and animal scents together with flowers and wood. Frequently enhanced by camphorous oils and incense resins.
Shalimar (Guerlain 1925) is the state of the art among oriental perfumes and the only one in the world's top five which is not a floral scent. Shalimar means "Temple of love" and alludes to Taj Mahal in India.
Notes de tête: Citron, Bergamote
Notes de coeur: Jasmin, Rose de Mai, Opopanax, Fève Tonka, Vanille
Notes de fond: Iris, Encens
Angel (Thierry Mugler 1992) is warm, sweet and spicy, caring. It reminds me of a old friend of mines and times we spent together in the mid-nineties. The list of ingredients reminds of an ice cream parlor... Unzipped (Samba 1998) reminds of this perfume, with the base note of chocolate.
Notes de tête: Bergamote, Mandarine
Notes de coeur: Fruit de la passion, Pêche, Abricot
Notes de fond: Patchouli, Vanille, Chocolat, Caramel
Samsara (Guerlain 1989) is a floral-oriental scent that gains over time, I think, and is less heavy than the above, ladylike.
Notes de tête: Bergamote, Citron, Note Verte, Estragon
Notes de coeur: Jasmin, Rose, Ylang-Ylang, Oeillet
Notes de fond: Santal, Vanille, Benjoin, Fève Tonka

Sensi et Relaxing Fragance

2007-12-06T00:17:00.001+01:00

Hier j'ai testé Sensi d'Armani et Relaxing Fragance de Shiseido.

Les deux sont legers, surtout Relaxing Fragance , qui est très "clean", je me demande si ce n'est pas trop de genre savon....mais le long de la journée il tient bien.
Notes de tête: Concombre, Bambou, Armoise, Galbanum
Notes de coeur: Rose, Cardamome, Pivoine, Gardenia
Notes de fond: Santal, Bois de Cèdre, Mousse de Chêne, Fève Tonka
Quant à Sensi, je l'aime bien pour une journée où on a envie de qch

de paisible.
Notes de tête: Kaffir lime, Accacia farnèse
Notes de coeur: Jasmin, orgeat
Notes de fond: Palissandre, benjoin

The August Prize Laureats

2007-12-05T23:58:00.001+01:00

The final laureats for the Swedish literary award Augustprisit has been announced.
Fiction: Carl-Henning Wijkmark, for his book on death: "Stundande natten" (Norstedts).
Non-fiction: Bengt Jangfeldt, for the second time. This time it is his book on the Russian poet Majakovskij, entitled "Med livet som insats" (Wahlström & Widstrand).
Children's book: Sven Nordqvist for the book "Var är min syster?" (Opal).
Increased sales to be expected!

Fendi Palazzo

2007-11-17T10:19:00.000+01:00

Palazzo (Eau de Parfum) de Fendi est apparu en Septembre 2007, mis au point de Karl Lagerfeld et François Demachy. Floral et boisé, il demande l'attention de tous autour de vous, ce parfum.
Note de tête: Mandarine Jaune, bergamote, citron, poivre rose
Note de coeur: Fleur d’Oranger, jasmin, rose bulgare
Note de fond: Bois de Gaïac, patchouli

Le Flacon de Fendi Palazzo est superbe! Il évoque l'architecture du Palazzo Fendi, boutique emblématique de la marque, située en plein cœur de Rome.

Goncourt revisited

2007-11-15T22:08:00.001+01:00

Right, I never got back to the final Goncourt laureate. Usually the short lists are most interesting to me, that way you have a list of recommendations to select from yourself according to mood, availability etc. Anyway, Gilles Leroy has been awarded the Goncourt Prize for his «Alabama Song» (Mercure de France), which has 8-folded the number of books available in the bookstores. It doesn't seem to have been an evident choice, however, I learnt it took the jury 14 rounds of voting - yet another reason to pay more attention to the short list than the unique award-winning title.

Armani Code for women

2007-11-15T21:28:00.001+01:00

Today's perfume Armani Code for women (Eau de Parfum), by Carlos Benaïm, Dominique Ropion and Olivier Polge (2006).

Notes de tête: Orange bigarade, Orange d'Italie
Notes de coeur: Absolu de Fleur d’Oranger, Jasmin Sambac
Notes de fond: Vanille, Miel

Orange Blossom is the Muse of this creation: a miracle of the nature, the quintessence of femininity. A unique creation reveals this flower's full magic and operates its metamorphosis by the incredibly soft embrace of Madagascar vanilla and a touch of honey. Sambac jasmine, from India, amplifies the radiance and elegance of this celebration of noble materials. An unforgettable fragrance that exudes a mysterious charm.

It's like one of those restaurants where it feels like you have eaten already after reading through the menu! The scent is rather heavy, dense. For seductive and glamorous women, hey, it's almost weekend!

Parfum du jour: Rumeur

2007-11-14T19:45:00.000+01:00

Aujourd'hui j'ai porté Rumeur de Lanvin (crée de Francis Kurkdjian 2006).

Notes de tête: Magnolia, Roses blanches
Notes de coeur: Jasmin Sambac, Seringat, Fleur d'Oranger, Muguet
Notes de fond: Patchouli, Musc, Ambrox

Premièrement il m'a beaucoup plû - pour une journée d'automne crispée - frais, sophistiqué.
Après quelques heures le muguet domine, un peu trop je trouve, afin sur moi. Encore plus tard le patchouli plutôt agréable.

J'ai aussi testé Eau d'Iparie chez l'Occitane. Originale, assez masculin avec sa fond de myrrhe et encens.
Notes de Tête : Baie Rose, Rose.
Notes de Coeur :Patchouli, Ciste Labdanum.
Notes de Fond : Myrrhe, Encens, Vanille, Mousse.
C'est peut être bizarre mais je pense que l'occasion pour le porter est un enterrement, c'est un parfum solennel.

L'illustration s'appelle Magnolia Swan Lake.

Ahh, Perfume!

2007-11-14T12:10:00.000+01:00

Lately I have so much to read and write in my work, so in my spare time there was need for using other senses and since a visit at the Perfume museum of Fragonard in Paris earlier this season I am addicted to testing and learning about Perfumes. My newly awakened track of interest is supported by this Swedish blog - Parfumistans blogg - on perfume. I also found this French Perfume Portal very inspiring. And of course, the perfume shops where I can try on all the new discoveries! Two interesting English speaking sites are News parfums and the blog Now smell this. The wish list for Christmas is taking shape...

Le Prix August

2007-10-23T23:13:00.001+02:00

Chaque année depuis 1989 l'Association des Editeurs en Suède distribue le prix littéraire, Augustpriset, en trois catégories: Littéraire, Non-romanesque et Enfance/Jeunesse. Bokus, la librairie sur internet, présente bien les nominés ici. Le 3 décembre les lauréats seront annoncés.

Liste de Ventes - France

2007-10-20T00:31:00.001+02:00

Puis je regarde la liste de meilleures ventes de romans en France fin septembre: Muriel Barbery, Amélie Nothomb, Harlan Coben, Yasmina Reza, Philippe Claudel, Stephen King, John Le Carré, Daniel Mendelsohn, Guillaume Musso et Franck Thilliez - la moitié non-francais.

Liste de ventes - Suède

2007-10-20T00:18:00.001+02:00

Avec une population de 9 millions habitants, un niveau d'éducation plutôt haut ainsi que la connaissance des langues et d'autres cultures, on pourrait croire que cela se montrera dans la lecture en Suède, mais non. Je regarde la liste de meilleures ventes de romans en Suède octobre 2007 et parmi les 10 premiers il n'y a qu'un seul écrivain étranger: Khaled Hosseini. Les autres: Liza Marklund, Stieg Larsson, Jan Guillou, Karin Wahlberg, Kajsa Ingemarsson, Leif GW Persson, Mari Jungstedt, Arne Dahl, Camilla Läckberg - la plupart des livres sont des romans policiers.

Goncourt short list

2007-10-18T23:37:00.001+02:00

More awards!...the short list of October 2nd for Prix Goncourt 2007 is:
Olivier Adam «A l'abri de rien» (L'Olivier)
Philippe Claudel «Le rapport de Brodeck» (Stock)
Marie Darrieussecq «Tom est mort» (P.O.L.)
Michèle Lesbre «Le canapé rouge» (S. Wespieser)
Clara Dupont-Monod «La passion selon Juette» (Grasset)
Gilles Leroy «Alabama Song» (Mercure de France)
Amélie Nothomb «Ni d'Eve ni d'Adam» (Albin Michel)
Lydie Salvayre «Portrait de l'écrivain en animal domestique» (Seuil)

I'd say that there is the most buzz around Amélie Nothomb, however that says nothing about the decisions of the jury.
To be continued...the 25th of October...

Lire en fête!

2007-10-18T23:10:00.000+02:00

Ce weekend, le 19-21 octobre, sera Lire en fête à Paris, et ailleurs.

Anticipation et marketing dans l'édition

2007-10-18T22:16:00.001+02:00

J'ai regardé quelques blogs suédois sur la littérature et j'ai noté qu'ils touchent tous sur un roman pas encore paru: Amberville. Apparement, les bloggeurs ont recus des spécimen gratuits en avance, ce qui n'est qu'un petit pas dans un plus grand plan de marketing. Car ce roman est écrit pour porter du succès, pour plaire, se vendre et être filmatisé. L'auteur secret - sous le pseudonyme Tim Davys - est suédois mais tous les noms propres dans l'histoire sont anglo-saxons, ainsi que le titre. D'ailleurs, même avant paraître sur le marché suédois il est traduit en anglais. Les personnages sont des ours en peluche, néanmoins, Amberville a été presenté à la Foire du Livre en Francfort et la maison d'édition Harper Collins a payé 350 000 USD pour les droits globals du roman.

Laureates II

2007-10-18T22:02:00.000+02:00

...and the Man Booker Prize 2007 went to the Irish author Anne Enright, for The Gathering.
I quote the site: "The Gathering is a family epic. It is also a sexual history: tracing the line of hurt and redemption through three generations – starting with the grandmother, Ada Merriman – showing how memories warp and family secrets fester. This is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars."
This makes me think of Joyce Carol Oates and her Rape: a Love Story. Must read. The Gathering.

Laureates I

2007-10-18T21:38:00.000+02:00

By now, everyone knows that Doris Lessing will be the one to receive the Nobel Prize in literature in Stockholm December 10th. People ask why the academy and the nobel committees wait so many years before rewarding the potential laureates. One reason is that they want to see sustainable success and not " one hit wonders". Often times the Nobel Prize in literature rewards the work of a lifetime and not one single piece of work. However, the work of Lessing is heterogenus and contains many categories, even science fiction, which is not so common in this context.

Doris Lessing will be the oldest laureate ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and Leonid Hurwicz that will receive the Prize in Economic Sciences will be the very oldest (90 yrs) in all categories.

Coup de coeur

2007-10-09T22:50:00.000+02:00

Au musée du Quai Branly j'ai fait la connaissance de ce pygmée minuscule et adorable Boubou.

Stieg Larsson

2007-10-09T22:39:00.001+02:00

Le roman La reine dans le palais des courants d'air (Luftslottet som sprängdes) de l'écrivain suédois Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) a apparu sur la liste de meilleures ventes de livres en France, no 12 dans la semaine de 10-16 septembre 2007 (la semaine même de parution). C'est le troisième volet dans la triologie Millenium, qui est aussi extremement populaire en Suède, no 1 sur la liste de ventes en septembre sur le marché suédois selon le journal des éditeurs et librairies Svensk Bokhandel.

Nobel Prize week

2007-10-09T21:48:00.000+02:00

We are in the week of Nobel Prize announcements, it always catches my interest. Thursday is the day for literature. The betting odds rank Philip Roth, Claudio Magris, Haruki Murakami, Thomas Tranströmer, Amos Oz, Joyce Carol Oates as the more likely. Among these, the Swedish poet Thomas Tranströmer and Joyce Carol Oates are personal favourites.

Man Booker Short List 2007

2007-10-09T20:38:00.000+02:00

I'm in an intense work period since after summer holiday but it's time for an update. The short list for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2007 was released a month ago and in a week the laureate will be announced. The six finalists are:
Darkmans by Nicola Barker
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha

Best reads 2006

2007-01-07T21:23:00.000+01:00

Back on track. I kept on reading but didn't blog the past months. However, during holidays I summarized the year and read a lovely novel: Berlinerpopplarna (The Berlin Poplars) by Anne B Ragde, Norwegian author. The novel has been a great success in Norway and it's not difficult to understand why. Best read in Swedish was Hakan Nesser's Kim Nowak badade aldrig i Genesarets sjö. Of course I did not read exclusively Scandinavian literature...another favourite is Joyce Carol Oates, Rape A Love Story. So what makes literature that I enjoy? Good language. I am not so fund of endless dialogues, common in chick lit etc. Intriguing story, preferably woven in more than one layer. That also goes for the characters that should be made up with psycological insights, in a way that makes me want to get to know them better. And reflect upon human nature.

Making Change

2006-06-17T10:35:00.001+02:00

While working I took a class in change management during spring. Haven't had time to dedicate on the blog, but starting from the end: Aspects that we considered to be utterly important in an organisational change are communication, having a vision, setting well defined goals aligned with this vision, goals that can be achieved also in short term in order to keep motivation and pace in the change work. In a modern, knowledge-based organisation it is vital to establish a learning organisation. Change is dynamic, it's not about deciding on a 5-yearplan and send it to empolyees to fulfil it. Therefore, I drew a model that serves as a map during change, something to gather around in the organisation and also should be used for follow-ups and a double loup learning.

The green squares are supposed to be filled in with whatever the co-workers decide on. After some time, at the end of the year, the grey area is filled in with achievements. A gap-analysis provides input for the next year's green squares - after other relevant business intelligence has been considered.

Oops

2006-06-01T21:57:00.001+02:00

Oh, what happened during the month of May? I lead workshops - for process analysis and for inventory of competences, and future needs. I held a seminar on customer focus. And I finished a university course in change management to get an up date. Then I took a week off, in Corfu, Greece, just lovely.

...and the lack of it

2006-04-22T08:25:00.000+02:00

I usually say that there is a need to grasp all the ways of communication in a channel strategy. But I also think that you should be flexible enough to deal with different channels in various manners. At work I use a calender in Outlook. I have a cell phone that I syncronize with the computer and it syncronizes entirely. So if I happen to want an alert before a meeting, I will get it both in my computer and in the phone. It is impossible to close the alert function in the phone alone.

More channel strategies....

2006-04-22T08:04:00.001+02:00

I arranged a seminar on multi channel strategies the other day and the more I prepared it, the more I wanted to include...it such a vast area. We could easily have used a full day and have work shops with more specific dicussions. Sture Hägglund, professor of Computer Science, gave broad introduction. After a break we got some more specific examples from Maria Inghamn, the Swedish Road Administration. Their sms-services have been more widely used, and differently, than anyone had expected.

Excellent!

2006-04-12T23:04:00.000+02:00

I just got the message from my Professor that the memo I wrote on the Swedish Novel after WW2 was excellent and got the highest grade... it feels really good to hear that...especially as I did excellent on the thesis as well and now it will all ad up :-) I enjoyed the reading and writing and it always feels great to accomplish something!

Process analysis

2006-04-02T18:50:00.001+02:00

Ok, when I don't read or write on Swedish literature I work with business development and the past weeks we have conducted work shops of process analysis. The method is based on RUP and we look at "who is doing what with what" today and tomorrow. It is a simple way to get a pretty good picture of how work is done currently and what improvements could be made. At a 3rd occasion we count on the financial effects. Coming week I wil be leading one of these workshops on the "tomorrow"-situation and I am really looking forward to it. We have already had a first work shop and got a lot of information. The organisation has been doing their home work already last year but it's different when someone comes from the outside looking in.

Over and done with

2006-04-02T18:49:00.000+02:00

Last week I handed in my paper on the Swedish prose since 1945 - feels good to accomplish a task on my list :-)

1990's short stories

2006-03-22T21:40:00.000+01:00

In the 90's I was on the Editorial Board of the literary student's journal Ordkonst. We focused on young authors and when I moved on I remember having had enough of stories about young, unemployed men in an urban environment. But the maybe foremost characteristic of the literary 90's in Sweden was the short story. Cecilia Davidsson and Ninni Holmqvist are top of mind. Typic for the late (ie from the 1990's) short stories is that although in full light, there is something that is hard to get. The reality is well described but hard to understand. It's a world that is not consistent.

The Christmas Oratorio (Juloratoriet, 1983)

2006-03-05T21:24:00.000+01:00

The novel turns around a family marked by the accident that killed the mother on her way to practise the Christmas Oratorio in choir. The husband, the son and the future grand son and the different shapes of grief are interpreted in variations on the theme of mourning. The Christmas Oratorio was adapted as a movie in 1996 and became widely known to the (Swedish) public.

As most works of Tunström, this novel takes place in the village of Sunne. The fantastic elements alludes to Marquez but also to the myth. He places the myth in the everyday life and gives an epic form to fundamental human experiences. This is Göran Tunström’s master piece. The key matter is: Can the individual when suffering a loss that seems to be devastating find a healing force that brings maturity and growth?

1980s - Postmodernism

2006-03-05T21:14:00.000+01:00

The Swedish literature in the 80s is about postmodernism and poststructuralism.
The optimism of development turned into fanatic unfaithfulness. Critics were critized for being stuck in critisism of ideologies and not literature. Young authors were critised for not being conscient of the language and the relations between texts, intertextuality. Thematics of life then turned into thematics of language and the written text.
As an example can be mentioned Stig Larsson who (in Autisterna, the Autists) used a character with no name, a mere epic function, that moves freely in time and space. He is a screen on which events, environments and emotions can be projected. The text is a text. The novel describes unconcentered individuals in a scattered world.

Other prominent Swedish authors of the 1980s are Peter Kihlgård, Björn Ranelid, Inger Edelfeldt and Mare Kandre.

Väderkvarnarna (the Windmills, 1962)

2006-03-05T20:44:00.000+01:00

Arne Sand was almost always out of time. Back then, it seemed as he was always lagging behind, but much later we can think of him as someone before his time. He appears to be an paradigmatic author of the 1950s with his interest of the character and means of fiction.

The main character of the Windmills is an art critic, Donald Johansson, that comes to the family Martstad to study their Jugend mansion and falls in love with the daughter and then her mother. The novel consists of conversations that are hard to follow because however brilliant they do not make sense, which creates a distance. It has been mentioned as the first Swedish non-figurative novel and the most daring experimental novel of the 1960s. The novel alludes to Cervantes, Shakespeare and Kafka but most of all it reminded me of the surrealistic L’écume des jours of Boris Vian from 1947.

The Days of his Grace (Hans Nådes tid, 1960)

2006-03-05T20:22:00.000+01:00

Eyvind Johnson mainly wrote historical and autobiographical pieces, sometimes entirely documentary. He renewed the novel and was a precursor in documentarism and got followers later on in the 60s. In 1974 he shared the Nobel Prize in literature “for a narrative art, far-seeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom”.

Johnson problematized the matter of time and memory and he was inspired by Henri Bergson. Other influences came from Marcel Proust, James Joyce and Thomas Mann.
The Days of his Grace takes place during the years of Karl the Great, approximately 775-825, and gives a depressing image of the world under his reign. In focus is the individual that is ground into nothing in the mill of powers. Like Vilhelm Moberg, Eyvind Johnson worked closely with authentic material. The story has three narrative levels – a trick to introduce more of the original material. This also makes it harder to distinguish different characters – the individual is complex and ever changing and the line between personalities is not distinct.

1960s - Take a stand

2006-03-05T20:15:00.000+01:00

The early 60s, Swedish literature was still under the influence of relativism and unfaithfulness but during the second part of the 1960s, the political and economical debate is introduced in the arts. New, more genuine forms are sought and the “aristocracy-modernism” is dismissed when turning the back towards academia and media. Socialrealistic reporterprose and ideological criticism becomes in fashion. Literature is no longer art but serves to deliver emotions, in a functional way. Arts should serve people, as an act of solidarity.

The notion of culture broadens. The literary critic is now a contemporary intellectual as opposed to yesterday’s esthetical judge. The French structuralism is introduced in Sweden and along comes the “nouveau roman”. Important genres in the Swedish literature of the 60s are journey accounts (Sven Lindqvist, Jan Myrdal), reports and documentaries (PC Jersild, Sara Lidman) where interviews are common and also experimental prose (Torsten Ekbom).

Barabbas

2006-02-27T23:17:00.000+01:00

Barabbas, written by Pär Lagerkvist, was published in 1950 and turns around the man who was released from execution in the place of Jesus and spends his time trying to comprehend the stranger's life and beliefs. Seeking but without finding his true beliefs, in lack of the capability to love and left to loneliness and anguish, Barabbas is the portait of the modern man.
During his career Pär Lagerkvist kept asking the big philosophical questions ("Why do we live?", "How should the world be understood?") over and over, but somehow without repeating himself. In 1951 he was rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind".

Barnabok

2006-02-27T22:47:00.000+01:00

Barnabok (Childs' book) was published in 1952 and may be considered as the first masterpiece of Lars Gyllensten. Gyllensten is a truly academic writer who has elaborated different values and perceptions of life in his different pieces. Above all, he estimate the priciple of "unfaithfulness", ie he is assuming different attitudes in his various books, he is a constructor and explorer of ideas. Initially, he was applauded but later his unfaithfulness was less associated to openness and more to a lack of principles (and in the 60s ideology became more important again). This relativism of Gyllensten was inspired by logical empirism of Vienna and Cambridgephilosophy. He also share basic ideas with Kierkegaard and existentialism. Barnabok is started in an artificial children's language and explores naivety. In the final scene the main character kills his girlfriends baby - he fails the attitude he was trying out.

Usually I enjoy clever constructions but so far it has been more fun/interesting to read about the talanted author (who has a chair of his own in the Swedish Academy, but didn't take part the last 15 years or so) than to read the results of his work. Although I am tempted to go on with the thesis and the anti-thesis in this trilogy where Barnabok corresponds to the synthesis.

1950s - Come out and play

2006-02-25T19:27:00.000+01:00

During the 1950s the serenity in Swedish literature turns into a play with esthetics. The 50s is a time of freedom and contradictions. It’s pluralism, ironic romance and playfulness. Different strategies and voices are tried out. A new foundation for society after 2nd world war is sought. The young author is usually an academic who is practising the craftsmanship of creating literature. However, there is no “generation” of the 50s that steps forward. Authors to be mentioned are: Pär Rådström, Birgitta Trotzig, Willy Kyrklund, Sara Lidman and Lars Gyllensten.

The American New criticism is introduced in Sweden by the leading critic Bengt Holmqvist. Ezra Pound grows popular, Roland Barthes less read.

The Emigrants

2006-02-25T19:06:00.000+01:00

Vilhem Moberg's the Emigrants (1949) is the first volume of four telling the story about a family (Karl Oskar & Kristina Nilsson with children) and some other persons from their native village in the South of Sweden that leave their home to live the American dream in the 19th century. They arrive in Minnesota and settles there. Robert, the brother of Karl Oskar, is the dreamer and visionary man that cannot settle but keep going, for gold in Klondyke. Moberg has kept closely to documents of the time, concious to create a realistic description. This is a true master piece of Swedish literature after 1945 and a classic that is a pleasure to read.

"When I chose a party of 16 people, who for different reasons emigrated to America, I did not know what would would happen to them or, of course, how they would change. It was to find out that I wanted to write the novel." /Vilhelm Moberg

Island of the Doomed

2006-02-25T18:44:00.000+01:00

Stig Dagerman's Island of the Doomed (L'île des condamnés / De dömdas ö) from 1946 is filled with constant fear described in a language saturated with symbols. It is a defense of individualism and an attack against the use of ideas as a tool of terror.
Seven people arrive to an island after their ship was wrecked and here they meet their ruin in different ways. The people are in bad shape, impersonal outer casing hardly covers a core of fear. Nasty animals (birds, snakes, lizards) prevail over the island. The interplay between symbols, animals and dread is intricate and a theme a long the novel. The animal causes fear but is also the symbol of the fear and these aspects are mixed into one in the perception of the individuals. The seven people symbolize the man after WWII in a hopeless situation of guilt and repressed experiences.

1940s - Anguish

2006-02-25T18:35:00.000+01:00

Anguish is the key word of the Swedish literature in the 1940s. Stig Dagerman (1923-54) is the Master. The serenity of human existence is a main theme. Relativism of values lead to a renewed focus on moral issues. What the 40-talists share in common is the fear of illusions and false notions. This drives through a reduction of the image of the human being and the harder scrutinized, the larger the chance to find the real, but this also increases the anxiety.

The literary 1940s end in 1954 when Stig Dagerman commit suicide and the last volume of lyrics from Erik Lindegren is published. Lars Ahlin finishes off the classic modernism by claiming that literature is language, not a medium. He is experimenting with the prose in a way that will be picked up by the constructivists later on in the 1960s.

70s literature in Sweden

2006-02-19T20:10:00.000+01:00

During this weekend I have been busy with Swedish prose from the 1970s. The 70s hardly exist at all in Swedish literature as the 60s is considered to have ended in 1976 and the 1980s was a higher profiled period. In early 70s the publishing industry suffered from low/non-profits. Critics during the preceding years had claimed that fiction was all lie and crap. But eventually, this decade came with a renaissance for fiction and story-telling. Young authors left the political problems for existential ones. Prominent Swedish authors from the 1970s are such as: Jacques Werup, Ernst Brunner, Niklas Rådström, Klas Östergren.

I chose to read Lars Gustafsson, who is a highly academic author and a central figure especially in the 1960s . With Herr Gustafsson själv (1971) his authorship took a new path as he is more open about his own experiences and try to give form to the relations between the individual and society. At the same time it is an Inferno-journey as the one in Dante's Divina Commedia.

The second novel I chose from this decade was Ann-Charlotte Alverfors' Sparvöga. It is the first part of a trilogy about a little girl called Gertrud, nicknamed Sparvöga by her grandfather, who grows up in a big house in the countryside of Småland (the origin of Astrid Lindgren, Vilhelm Moberg, IKEA, my father and so much more....) together with parents and grand parents. The novel is a good example of a literary provinsialism that turns up during this period of time. It was filmed and shown in Swedish television late 80s but I have not found any English version. Marie Fredriksson (from Roxette) sang the lead theme.

Swedish novel after WWII

2006-02-19T20:00:00.000+01:00

I decided to take the course of Swedish novel after 1945 at my old university in Lund. It's an awful lot of pages that gives few academic credits but a good knowledge of the Swedish literature. I have read some of the novels during the past years already but now I finally got my act together and got all the required literature from the libraries. Once started I was quite excited about it. It's so neat to sort decade by decade, look for the patterns etc.

Back in business

2006-02-06T16:46:00.000+01:00

Oh, I haven't posted anything for a long time now. Travels, re-organisation at work and literature has kept be busy elsewhere than on the blog. However, last Saturday I was invited to a friend celebrating her successful blog and got some inspiration for a revival.

Brussels

2005-11-24T22:48:00.000+01:00

I've been to Brussels to map it up workwise. Two days of training with mainly interesting lectures, on the Constitution, on Competitiveness and the Lisbon Agenda. A visit to the Parliament just before Ms Merkel arrived. Then a third day of personal meetings in the Commission and the Council - bumped into our minister of Agriculture just as the meeting on sugar finished. It's a completely different thing to be there and to hear the talk, than to browse Europa... and I have no regrets that I wasn't present at the ministerial eGovernment conference in Manchester. If there was a pulse in Tunis last week, I guess it's just the every day life in Brussels. But why is it still so distant from Stockholm although 10 years of membership? A paper column mentioned Sweden as the nation that joined the Union when people long at last realized that the Union actually would not join Sweden...

WSIS in Tunis

2005-11-18T13:52:00.001+01:00

Arrived to the hotel in the outskirts of Tunis after a very long trip. Arrangements and organisation for the World Summit on Information Society are impressive and security is rigorous. Information material on the web before the conference focused mainly on arrangements and how to organise things, and not on what would be treated in the seminars so we needed some orientation time on the floor. However, after the first hours of desorientation I found several quite interesting meetings; seminars and stands - relevant for my work in e-government. I was told that 17000 people was expected and 28000 registered for the summit. In such a crowd you surely find something of your taste. Some of the content was a repetition from the European IT Forum in Paris (see postings from September), like Nicholas Negropontes 5 minute speech in the plenary session on the "one lap top per child" project. In the following afternoon, the stand was crowded.

Harold Pinter

2005-10-13T18:04:00.000+02:00

...and the Nobel Prize in Literature 2005 goes to Harold Pinter - “who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms” - and is an author that is already famous :-). An oldie. I remember we once saw the Birthday Party in Sheffield some years ago in the Studio - never been attracted to the theatre, usually reality is fascinating enough, but I enjoy the absurdist plays. However, I cannot really see it as literature and especially not awarded literature. This is closer than Dario Fo, but when are they going to take a closer look at literary qualities? Tomas Tranströmer, it's written in the sky.

John Banville

2005-10-11T21:07:00.000+02:00

Lastly, the author named to receive the Booker Prize 2005 was John Banville, Ireland, for his novel The Sea ... "a masterly study of grief, memory and love recollected". And now we await the announcement from the Swedish Academy on the Nobel Prize in literature.

Virtual Society

2005-10-08T10:35:00.000+02:00

In the latest issue of Axess, an essay brings up the socialisation on the internet by online role playing games such as World of Warcraft. It gives an interesting introduction for those of us that didn't yet take part in these games, but the essay turns more around the rules and the codes to follow than the fun and the feeling of creating something together.

World Summit on the Information Society

2005-10-02T19:54:00.001+02:00

I just got the accreditation for the UN WSIS phase 2 coming up in November. "In the second phase of WSIS efforts are being made to put the Plan of Action into motion and working groups have been set up to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms." Looking forward to that. Carl Bildt made some comments on his blog. Will be interesting to go there.

Bokmässan pågår

2005-09-30T09:35:00.000+02:00

Hade varit kul att vara där, men istället följer jag den hos tidningen Svensk Bokhandel, SvB.

There is also an English edition of the journal of the Swedish publishers and bookstores.

More Cosmopolitans

2005-09-28T23:02:00.000+02:00

I am beginning to rethink on the well educated cosmopolitan elite. The taxi driver that took me to my apartment in Stockholm originally comes from Turkey but share his time between driving taxi in Stockholm (Sweden) and working in a casino in San Diego (California, USA). While driving he taught me a lesson of bargaining in Tunisia... cool.

Scarce Resource

2005-09-28T22:39:00.000+02:00

Power, electricity, is a resource that is more scarce than we usually think of in the part of the world where I spend most of my time. The laptops in the program One laptop per child are equipped with a crank. And the parents were really happy when the kids used the laptops at home at night, because they got some light in the house. Kurt Westh Nielsen wrote this Danish
article.

China

2005-09-28T21:58:00.000+02:00

China was frequently mentioned in presentations and discussions, mainly as a threat and not as a potential market. It is considered as a larger threat to Europe than India much because of its severe system regulating family size and growth of population. That is also the reason why China's economy will take off much faster than the one of India: it's easier to obtain a high GDP/capita if you can hold back the number of capitas...

Being Bold - Maybe Tomorrow...

2005-09-27T16:10:00.000+02:00

This morning, Lester Thurow was talking about the necessity of being bold in different aspects. One of them was being bold in the gender aspect. There is no reason that men should rule the world, he said, we really need to turn to the women as well, it's vital. However, looking at the agenda, the 15 presentations yesterday were all made by men and also today the stage has belonged to the men. For someone interested in gender studies it would have been fun to know if the discussion on networks (brief) and competitiveness (extensive) had turned out differently with some female voices in the choir.

Excellence and Competitiveness

2005-09-27T14:44:00.000+02:00

There are many wise words being said here, but today's most impressive presentation was the one of Luc Soete on Activating knowledge. He also took part in the lunch discussion we just finished, together with Jeremy Rifkin and Lester Thurow. Taking off fram the competitiveness of Europe, we came to talk a lot about China. Lester argued that the chinese discrimination of rural people needs to come to an end. For my part, I see the discrimination of rurals, or rater uneducated, increasing as a result of globalisation. He agreed on that, but still meant that we should think it over, be careful about it. Mr Soete mentioned that we in Europe need to change our models of social welfare, which are to a high degree founded on a base of labour rather than knowledge work - being a knowledge worker you have not the same reasons to retire at 58 as has a physical worker. Still, a high number of European knowledge workers enjoy this welfare system.

Being Mobile

2005-09-26T16:28:00.000+02:00

We had a lab on Future of wireless at lunch time. Nicholas (who is among all other things also on the Board of Motorola) stressed the fact that mobility is the act of working away from your primary workplace. It still needs to be said out loud. So many times mobility is exemplified with cellphones and nothing else. Too much attention on the devices and not on the functions, if you ask me. Being mobile is a matter of accessing data wherever you are. Identification and security issues can cause problems. But once your corporate data is mobilized, then you can change processes. Last week I got an impressive presentation on the Danish use of mobile solutions in Care. Back to our lunch-discussion: besides security matters, the ease of management and the scalability are crucial. Upon 3G Negroponte concluded that it is a sad story, a false path that should have been abandoned long ago - it was too little, too early.

From the conference

2005-09-26T16:17:00.000+02:00

This is a busy schedule. From 8.30 am to 4.10 pm we just had 30 minutes break but listened to 15 presentations and 2 panel discussions...it's time for some reflections on what to bring back home. (No, we don't call it a day yet.) By the way, there is an IDC blog, too.

Wiki....what!?

2005-09-26T10:46:00.000+02:00

So, I find myself at the IDC European IT Forum in Paris together with numerous business leaders, IT professionals etc. We just enjoyed the first session, and listening to among other speakers Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT Labs and one of the founders of Wired Magazine. He addressed Europe and it's competiveness in creativity and innovation. Talking about the power in free and open source he mentioned wikipedia and asked the audience to raise their hands if ever used Wikipedia. Approximately 15 % did...and I was astonished of being part of such a minority in such a crowd...

Paris: European IT Forum 2005

2005-09-24T22:01:00.000+02:00

Monday-Tuesday I will be at IDC European IT Forum 2005 in Paris.

French

2005-09-23T23:43:00.000+02:00

From Ludovic Copéré I got the link to Wired and this article on French blogging. When I blogged in French I just did it because I consider it as my second language, I have always felt close to the French esprit, spent a lot of time in France and studied at the Sorbonne. However, it wasn't until now that I learnt that French is the second blog-language after English. But it only feels natural. Interesting article, always nice to have gut-feelings confirmed. And soon I'll be in Paris again!

Google Blog Search

2005-09-23T23:07:00.000+02:00

I just tried the beta version of Google Blog Search for the first time and was happy to find my blog! There is certainly no reason for my friend Torstensson to complain about the fact that I didn't send him the link...

Ubiquitous

2005-09-22T22:14:00.000+02:00

Last week I was at a conference in Salzburg (Austria) on eGovernment. One of the presentations that inspired me the most was on ubiquitous government. I cannot really explain why. At least since 1999 I have heard that technology is becoming a part of everyday life. I've heard about the intelligent refridgerator more times than I can count. And I have seen presentations on u-gov before. Suddenly it was just more clear to me, what it means to access services anywhere and at anytime. Maybe because I have been much preoccupied with channel strategies and value networks lately. And started to use wireless networks. I'll probably get back to this.

Future Lab

2005-09-22T22:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we started off a scenario planning with a work shop at work. We're using the TAIDA-method taught at Kairos Future . It's been a long time since I worked with them and I enjoyed the future lab, although impatiently waiting for the analysis and outcome. However, it was good to look back and sum up the developments of the past 5-10 years - incredible how technology has changed our behaviors!

The Booker Prize shortlist

2005-09-08T22:41:00.000+02:00

Still haven't read Ian McEwan's September but yet I think it's a pity that he was cut from the list. Ishiguro is still in the game, as is Zadie Smith

Busy busy bee

2005-09-08T22:24:00.000+02:00

Oh, I am afraid the old cliché "time flies" is right on the spot... at the moment I am quite focused at my work and as I decided not to blog about my work, well, it's silent here. In a few weeks I will go to the IDC European IT Forum 2005. Nicholas Negroponte is one of the big names and that's how I found this old interview from Wired 1995...

Post och kommunikation

2005-08-24T22:55:00.000+02:00

Alltid lika fascinerad av kommunikation och kanalstrategier! För två veckor sedan var jag hos tandläkaren. Han skulle skicka en remiss och det skulle ta 3-6 månader, enligt honom, innan jag fick tid hos specialist. Sedan reste jag bort i jobbet en vecka. När jag kom hem helgen därpå och gick igenom posten fann jag en kallelse till specialisten, som hade avsatt tid följande förmiddag. Jaha, det var ju trevligt att det gick fort, men om jag varit borta ytterligare två dagar? (Jag hade missat tiden men ändå fått betala.) Hur lång tid kommer det att dröja innan myndigheter, företag & organisationer inser att inte alla kunder är ett med sin folkbokföringsadress och att kommunikationsmönster kan variera?

Ensemble - c'est tout

2005-08-23T13:11:00.000+02:00

Un des livres dont je me rajouis de lire cet automne, c'est le dernier d'Anna Gavalda Ensemble- c'est tout. Il sera publié en suédois en octobre, d'ailleurs. "Ce qui empêche les gens de vivre ensemble, c’est leur connerie, pas leurs différences..."

Keeping a Journal

2005-08-22T16:14:00.000+02:00

Back from one week's training in group dynamics and leadership (UGL - Understanding Group and Leader). We were encouraged to keep a personal journal every day as a tool to reflect upon what happened, think things through, their impact on myself, how to relate to it and so on. 1. you can repeat, 2. refer, 3. review and 4. you can reflect. It struck me when I read the morning paper today, SvD, about young people that blog to keep their friends and family informed. A girl said that she feels pretty free in writing but that she leaves out the most private, things of concern to her closest. So, what if the blog is her diary? And what if she is most preoccupied with things of less importance. And leaves the deeper or tougher experiences aside? What then? Because a diary used to be a secret place to develop inner thoughts and feelings. A place not only to repeat or review but also for reflection...

The Booker Prize Longlist

2005-08-14T22:44:00.000+02:00

The other day the Booker Prize longlist was released. I have to admit that I haven't read any of these books but I was happy to see Ian McEwan on the list. I very much enjoyed reading Atonement and Enduring Love and I will read September, for sure. And then probably think once again that I should finish Joyce's Ulysseus... Anyhow, the shortlist will be presented on 8 September and the winner on 10 October.

Branding a Capital

2005-08-13T21:29:00.000+02:00

I've been on vacation but now I'm back at the computer with a reflection on tourism and branding. In early summer the city of Stockholm announced the new tag: Stockholm - capital of Scandinavia saying they want to be confident and bold... However, above all in the era of globalisation borders and traditional capitals seems very old fashioned, almost obsolete, to use as a base for such a branding. During my holiday I passed by Genève - where people meet. A much more up to date slogan - I like!

Going

2005-06-13T20:01:00.000+02:00

It took a while before I started blogging but here I am! As far as I can remember I have been interested in media, publishing etc. Started working with the Internet 1997 at the launch of Bokus and studied Electronic Publishing in 1998. I've been sceptical to some extent but things have evolved and for sure I can also see the possibilities. Anyhow, now I am up and running and I hope to create something great.

Kundfokus

2005-06-12T21:51:00.000+02:00

I veckan var jag på ett seminarium på KTH om the Opportunity Frontier med docent Terrence Brown, som i förbifarten påpekade att kundorientering är en märklig term när man egentligen syftar på kundfokus. Jag håller med. Artikeln The Quest for Customer Focus i Harvard Business Review (april 2005) gör gällande att en organisation har 4 steg att ta sig igenom för att nå verkligt kundfokus: 1. Communal Coordination där man tar fram och standardiserar information från olika kontaktpunkter i organisationen, utifrån kund nota bene. 2. Serial Coordination då man analyserar och drar slutsatser av dessa historiska uppgifter. 3. Symbiotic Coordination då man tar klivet över till att förutse framtida beteenden och då också kan vara med och forma dem. Slutligen 4. Integral Coordination vilket innebär att den vunna kunskapen sipprat ut och används i organisationen, i den dagliga verksamheten, som därmed genomsyras av kundfokus. Att öka kundfokus är inte bara en fråga om att bygga upp en kunddatabas, utan det är en lärandeprocess som pågår i årsvis.

Pattern Recognition

2005-06-12T21:05:00.000+02:00

After reading in Axess issue on the future (The future is so passé, 2004:9) about William Gibson's Pattern Recognition I was inspired to read the book. It didn't really correspond to my expectations but I enjoyed the basic idea. "We have no future because our present is too volatile. […] We have only risk management. The spinning of the given moment's scenarios. Pattern Recognition."

Känna mönster

2005-06-12T14:50:00.000+02:00

När jag läst i Axess nummer om framtiden (2004:9) om William Gibson's Känna mönster blev jag nyfiken på boken och valde att läsa den svenska utgåvan. Den levde inte riktigt upp till mina förväntningar men jag gillade den konceptuellt. "Vi har ingen framtid eftersom vår nutid är för flyktig. [...] Det enda vi ägnar oss åt är att hantera risker. Väva scenarier för stunden. Känna mönster."