Business Matters

Improv Mindset: 4 Principles to Build Your Qualitative Skills

Qualitative research is a form of applied improvisation: even though moderators prepare extensively, almost anything can happen in an actual conversation, and we have to be able to react in the moment—all while putting on a show for our highly-engaged client “audience.” Actor Will Dennis describes how deliberately adopting an “improv mindset” can further bolster our qualitative skills, offering exercises to help us listen more attentively, make our respondents look good, and reconsider how spontaneous dialogue can turn into opportunities for more genuine and authentic conversations with participants. […]

Book Reviews

Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You Live by Becca Levy, William Morrow, 2022 and Stage (Not Age): How to Understand and Serve People Over 60 by Susan Wilner Golden, Harvard Business Review, 2022

The world’s population is getting older, but businesses struggle to address this consequential shift. Two new books, Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You Live, and Stage (Not Age): How to Understand and Serve People Over 60, explore the many negative ageist perceptions and self-perceptions that constrain business opportunities within the aging population. […]