Thursday, November 12, 2009

On Leaving Forrester and Becoming A Change Agent

My decision to leave Forrester Research didn’t come easy. It was actually quite excruciating because I really love my job. There are few careers where one has an opportunity to gain an insiders view on the operations, strategies, and future plans of both vendors and clients alike. Yet, having played the role of analyst for nearly a decade, I decided that it’s time to take a risk and embark on a new and exciting professional endeavor. While I cannot reveal where I’m going just yet, I’ve committed to transitioning my responsibilities and completing writing and client work at Forrester over the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I’d like to reflect back on a few of my experiences at Forrester. Working at Forrester has been one of the most rewarding and intellectually stimulating challenges in my career. I feel fortunate to have been a part of helping to build out the Customer Intelligence team and have confidence that my former teammates: Suresh Vittal, Dave Frankland and Julie Katz will continue to provide invaluable insight for Forrester clients and the market at large. The progress this team has accomplished in raising awareness for Customer Intelligence is invaluable. From Dave’s research that predicts the next CMO will come from Customer Intelligence to Suresh’s mission critical analysis of understanding the confluence of business intelligence, predictive analytics, online analytics and marketing analytics. This is groundbreaking research that is shaping the marketing and strategy of enterprises across the globe.

Yet, more importantly working at Forrester was a genuine privilege. I’ve not been a part of another organization where creative, bright and extremely motivated people collaborate and share ideas in such a productive way. The caliber of employees at Forrester is top notch and I’m glad that I was able to contribute to the collective mindshare. The good news is that Forrester is looking to fill my position with one talented analyst who shares my passion for all things analytics and optimization. Here’s a link to the job requisition and let me know if I can put in a good word for you.

For me, it's off to new challenges in the awesome field of Analytics and Optimization. My goal is to become a change agent for Web analytics and I plan to take an even more active role in Web analytics thought leadership, advocacy and evangelism. Jim Sterne said to me recently that becoming a change agent requires risk. Risks so big that you’re willing to lose your job over. I took his sage wisdom to heart and decided to break out and try my hand at truly creating change within the Web analytics and optimization industry. So stay tuned for how I plan to execute on that front and check back on this blog for BIG news to follow....

For now and while I finish out my time here at Forrester, I will carry with me valuable experiences that only a world class research organization like Forrester could provide. Thanks to Forrester all my talented colleagues for a truly remarkable experience.

Cheers,

John Lovett

16 comments:

Dave Frankland said...

Wishing you the very best (I won't say luck, coz you don't need it) with your next adventure. It has been a pleasure, and I look forward to continuing the dialog and friendship in the future.

Anonymous said...

Wish you all the best!

Trinadh said...

Wish you all the best!

Bill Gassman said...

John, it has been a pleasure sitting on panels with you bantering about the state of our industry. Coopetition can be fun. I look forward to hearing about your new role, knowing it will make a splash!

Sarah Allen-Short said...

Can't wait to hear what happens next! Good luck, John, and I look forward to following your work in the future.

Jacques Warren said...

All the very best. I look forward to shaking your hand and congratulate you (I'm sure the news you will announce will be big !!)

Ned said...

John,
It has been a priviledge knowing you and following your research. I have really enjoyed our conversations on various topics and looking forward to hearing about your new endeavours and continued relationship. All the Best.

James said...

Good for you John. Have appreciated your research and analysis over the past few years.

Wishing you all the best with your next venture. If you ever make it to Singapore would love to meet in person rather than twitter!

Cheers, James.

Brian Clifton said...

Good luck John - always interesting to hear/read your thoughts on the industry.

Next = Omniture/Adobe....?

I am going to plumb for Coremetrics or cmo.com (no bets though!)

Best regards, Brian

John Lovett said...

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone!

Kim Ann King said...

Congratulations and warm wishes from your friends at SiteSpect!

Unknown said...

Fair winds of change, John! Sad to see you going from Forrester. But the great news are that you are staying in the industry and that your drive and energy seem to have tripled. Like a rocket on the way to Mars that's been swinging around Earth to speed up your momentum!

Jim Sterne said...

John - you've got SOMEthing up your sleeve. The problem is, after all these years doing what you've been doing, that's a darned Big Sleeve you've got there. And there's TWO of them!! Please let us know soon....

Shoshana said...

Congratulations John from the folks at Tealeaf. We look forward to hearing more!

Matt Langie said...

John-

On behalf of all the folks here at Omniture, An Adobe company, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Just don't keep it a secret for TOO long!

Hope to see you at Summit 2010 in March!

Matt Langie

Corey said...

Hey John - just saw this announcement. Good luck in your next stage of evolution!