Charlene Li today announced in the Groundswell blog that she will be departing Forrester Research. Charlene is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, and co-author of the Groundswell book and blog. Her last day will be Friday, July 18th.
Hundreds of analysts depart from the research business — or change companies — each year. Each leaves behind a personal legacy. After all, the analyst business is a people business. Ask someone for their favorite story about the analyst firms and chances are they’ll tell you a story about a person, not a research report. I would argue that it’s the people aspect of the analyst business that truly separates it from its sister industries, publishing and market research.
Of the many departures from the profession each year, a few stand out. These departures seem to cause a ripple across the analyst, analyst-watcher, and technology adopter communities. I suspect that when we look back on 2008, Charlene Li’s decision to leave Forrester will be one that stands out. In a relatively short time, she made a sizable impact. Credit George Colony and Charles Rutstein and the rest of the management team for giving her freedom to take risks.
Best wishes to Charlene for whatever comes next!
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July 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 am
Barbara - thanks for the best wishes! Forrester has been an amazing place to work, and I can’t recommend it enough. They let me blog (with comments) four years ago and were extremely supportive in writing and marketing the Groundswell book. The team is strong and the management committed, so I leave knowing that my coverage area is in good hands.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Hmm, “… In a relatively short time, …” Charlene joined Forrester in March 1999, changed to the media research coverage in October 2002 and starting blogging in 2004. Doesn’t sound like a short time to me.
July 16th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Thanks for commenting.
Charlene, You are fortunate indeed to leave your research and consultation portfolio in good hands. Often, that is not the case in the emerging tech sectors. Meanwhile, I’ve been re-reading Groundswell during my holiday, so there’s more for me to say about you and your work there.
Carter, I suspect we have different ideas about what constitutes “sizable impact”, as well as the measure of a “relatively short time” for achieving it. Interesting.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
[...] bet these ten reasons will motivate you to get the book, Groundswell. Now she’s embarked on the next chapter of her life story. Sphere: Related [...]