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Articles by Karen
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Karen Lynch shared thisModerating a conversation about inclusion feels like coming home to the work that matters most to me. From my years on my town’s Racial Equity and Justice Task Force, to my work with the Creative Education Foundation, and every programming decision I make at Greenbook, inclusive thinking is deeply anchored in everything I do. Thank you, Nancy Cardenas, for inviting me to moderate AMA New York’s "Inclusive by Design" panel at Fordham University on October 1st. It’s an honor to host this dynamic conversation. CT/NY area #marketing and #mrx peeps, I hope to see you there. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/et9RDwUz
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Karen Lynch shared thisI am on vacation today so will not be on The Exchange but … just coming here to say I’m sorry to all my friends at Qualtrics who might be in a stress state. If I can help, email or message me, I’ll do my best. At the very least, I’m a good and active listener after logging decades of qualitative work. https://lnkd.in/gBrhP257Qualtrics cuts jobs in Seattle, Utah and overseas as it absorbs $6.75B acquisitionQualtrics cuts jobs in Seattle, Utah and overseas as it absorbs $6.75B acquisition
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Karen Lynch shared thisThis one started with a LinkedIn post about post-event email etiquette and took me somewhere much bigger: into the language we use for the people we hope to do business with. Because somewhere between “nice to meet you” and “add to CRM,” a person can quietly become dehumanized as a prospect. I think that shift is worth reading about, thinking about, and doing something about. (Heads up Holly Brown, this one is directly from your thread!)
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Karen Lynch shared thisFor any of my NYC-area friends in marketing, insights, or brand strategy: want to dig into what’s actually keeping people engaged and paying attention right now? On August 19th, AMA New York is holding a great event in Midtown (at OUTFRONT Media) on this exact theme: The Return to Real: IRL in the Age of AI. They’ve lined up executives from some amazing brands (e.g., Sunglass Hut and Tishman Speyer) to talk with Stacy Minero about why physical experiences and in-person connections matter more than ever. It’s set up to be a solid evening of practical insights, light bites & drinks, and networking with local leaders. AND, you can use promo code GREENBOOKLI for 50% off registration (bringing it under $15). Registration closes August 16th. Grab your spot here: https://lnkd.in/g58mEVjT
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Karen Lynch shared thisThis article, right here. This captures why I’ve wanted us to bring IIEX to San Francisco for years. Look at what is happening there, right now! It’s no surprise Alfred Wahlforss is featured 👏 AND his company Listen Labs is our title sponsor at our inaugural IIEX WEST event, taking place right on the piers of the city this October. I’m so jazzed, for all of it. Message me for info … if you aren’t following Greenbook and in the loop! 💚 And Alfred … just, go you. 😎
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Karen Lynch shared thisI couldn’t just leave a comment on Nikki’s post — I had to reshare it, because this photo hit me right in the heart. 💚 I might print it out and frame it, I like it that much. Seriously, you made my team's hard work look so beautiful. As a serious Starbucks brand fan, I might be a little biased, but there’s something so honest and beautiful about this shot. Nikki (true to her talent as a visual storyteller at Fifth House Creative) captured what my work often looks like: a laptop, a beverage, and a mind hard at work synthesizing big ideas. Even though I’m not the researcher behind the GRIT report in that picture, what Nikki captured here is symbolic of so much we truly feel at Greenbook: dedication, curiosity, and an effort that powers the insights community. Nikki, thank you for your kind words. Creating spaces for inspiring conversations — and supporting the brilliant human energy behind them — is part of our mission. As I said in my comment on your post, I truly am thrilled to be in the "wild" of this industry shift alongside creators like you.Karen Lynch shared thisThere’s no denying the research and insights industry is navigating a period of major change, but after a thought-provoking webinar this week, I’m walking away seeing more opportunity than uncertainty. First, a big thank you to Greenbook for hosting such an enlightening and inspiring discussion. There is so much thoughtful conversation happening across the industry as we figure out what’s next together. Of course, AI was a hot topic 🥵 It’s changing workflows and business models, and teams are being asked to do more with less. Underneath all of that, I kept coming back to the positive change I’m seeing playing out in real time. The role of research and insights is rapidly expanding, and the work is moving beyond delivering findings to providing strategic guidance that helps organizations see the opportunity, understand the story, and know what action to take. As AI makes it easier to generate more information, the ability to interpret, communicate, and align people around that information becomes highly valuable. For teams that can understand, extend, integrate, and activate insights, the opportunities are significant. Another point that stood out: Many research firms and data providers are laser focused on using AI to make research faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective. It’s clear those capabilities are appealing and will absolutely capture attention, but I feel this one in my gut - it won’t be a sustainable differentiator. The advice from the speakers: “Use AI to expand the surface area of the insight, not cheapen the craft.” 👍 The next few years will undoubtedly bring disruption and a lot of change. Rick Kelly said it best in his closing line, “Experimentation and learning by doing will be essential. It’s going to be a wild couple of years.” At Fifth House Creative we couldn’t agree more, and we’re weirdly excited about the “wild.”
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Karen Lynch shared thisAI is showing us that one of our biggest industry challenges was never simply generating insights. It was creating organizations capable of sharing, trusting, and acting on them efficiently. For years, we saw bottlenecks in the work of finding and analyzing customer insights. But GenAI in particular is clearly (and rapidly) reducing those. As this excellent article by Tom Davenport and Viktor Dörfler points out, the harder problems remain distinctly human: fragmented knowledge, inconsistent governance, organizational silos, poor prompting, and perhaps most importantly, cultures that don't consistently use customer understanding to make decisions. AI is not creating those organizational weaknesses. It is shining a brighter light on them. And it is solving the mechanics of insight generation faster than organizations are solving the behaviors that turn those insights into action. I really appreciate the examples from Stephan Gans, Kirti Singh, and Dr. Tracy Tuten. Each illustrates a slightly different truth, but together they reinforce the same idea: competitive advantage won't come from having better AI alone. It will come from building organizations that know how to learn, share what they know, and act on that shared knowledge. I'd love to hear what others are seeing. Has AI exposed organizational challenges you already had, or has it actually helped your organization overcome them? https://lnkd.in/gxTNAFKTHow GenAI Can and Can’t Help Manage Customer InsightsHow GenAI Can and Can’t Help Manage Customer Insights
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Karen Lynch shared thisI just wrote this piece, inspired by Melanie Solka’s sharp callout about the growing demand for “do-it-all” insights professionals. I couldn’t stop thinking about what that expectation means for new graduates who deserve the chance to begin somewhere, build depth, and become versatile over time. There's a great conversation happening on that thread, but meanwhile, please feel free to add your thoughts here as well, if what I'm saying strikes a chord with you as well. 🤯
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Karen Lynch shared thisJust ... 🥲 All the feels And I'm sharing with a few more than three people ❤️Karen Lynch shared thisThis is the most real shit in the world - send this to 3 people who need it today ❤️❤️❤️
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Karen Lynch liked thisMy good friend who is a serial healthcare tech entrepreneur and inventor (and music maker and music lover) Amir Kishon just wrote one of the most insightful tributes to Dolly Parton I have read this week. Give it a read. Send it along to folks you know who could use a role model or patron saint for “human in the loop” … in healthcare, or any other business impacted by AI in a big way. My “aha” takeaway? Being human is a competitive advantage. Who knew? Thanks Amir KishonKaren Lynch liked thisWhat Dolly Parton can teach us about healthcare in the age of AI As a musician, losing Dolly Parton, especially in the same week we lost ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard, makes me reflect on what remains after the music stops. As someone who has spent much of my life in healthcare and technology, I think Dolly’s legacy carries an unexpected lesson for the AI era. We talk constantly about HITL: Human in the Loop. Usually, we mean it technically. An AI system does something, and somewhere in the process, a human remains involved. But Dolly represented something deeper. She was extraordinarily successful: musician, songwriter, entrepreneur, philanthropist. Yet what people seem to remember just as strongly is how she made people feel. Her warmth. Her generosity. Her ability to connect across generations, backgrounds, and beliefs. She was, quite literally, a HUMAN IN THE LOOP. And you cannot fake that. That matters enormously as AI becomes more capable of imitating us. The great risk of AI is not that machines become more human. It is that humans begin accepting a world that is less human. Nowhere is that distinction more important than healthcare. Healthcare is ultimately built around some of the most human moments of our lives: fear, uncertainty, pain, trust, hope, and the need to know that someone is actually there. AI can make healthcare faster, smarter, more scalable, and more personalized. It can orchestrate extraordinary amounts of work. But this is not empathy. I strongly believe the future of healthcare is not AI replacing people. It is AI allowing people to be more present, more connected, and more human. The winning model will be hybrid: technology providing the scale, humans providing the relationship. Dolly famously gave us I Will Always Love You. Maybe there is a lesson for healthcare hidden in those words. In a world increasingly capable of simulating humanity, actually being human may become our greatest competitive advantage.
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Karen Lynch liked thisKaren Lynch liked thisWhat Dolly Parton can teach us about healthcare in the age of AI As a musician, losing Dolly Parton, especially in the same week we lost ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard, makes me reflect on what remains after the music stops. As someone who has spent much of my life in healthcare and technology, I think Dolly’s legacy carries an unexpected lesson for the AI era. We talk constantly about HITL: Human in the Loop. Usually, we mean it technically. An AI system does something, and somewhere in the process, a human remains involved. But Dolly represented something deeper. She was extraordinarily successful: musician, songwriter, entrepreneur, philanthropist. Yet what people seem to remember just as strongly is how she made people feel. Her warmth. Her generosity. Her ability to connect across generations, backgrounds, and beliefs. She was, quite literally, a HUMAN IN THE LOOP. And you cannot fake that. That matters enormously as AI becomes more capable of imitating us. The great risk of AI is not that machines become more human. It is that humans begin accepting a world that is less human. Nowhere is that distinction more important than healthcare. Healthcare is ultimately built around some of the most human moments of our lives: fear, uncertainty, pain, trust, hope, and the need to know that someone is actually there. AI can make healthcare faster, smarter, more scalable, and more personalized. It can orchestrate extraordinary amounts of work. But this is not empathy. I strongly believe the future of healthcare is not AI replacing people. It is AI allowing people to be more present, more connected, and more human. The winning model will be hybrid: technology providing the scale, humans providing the relationship. Dolly famously gave us I Will Always Love You. Maybe there is a lesson for healthcare hidden in those words. In a world increasingly capable of simulating humanity, actually being human may become our greatest competitive advantage.
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Karen Lynch liked thisKaren Lynch liked thisThe recent Median Strategies fiasco offers an important warning for anyone using synthetic data, as the problem wasn’t that the fabricated polling looked obviously wrong, It looked credible! AI can now generate plausible respondents, datasets, methodologies and conclusions at extraordinary speed. That creates a new research risk: plausibility can be mistaken for evidence.....and Axios has published a very interesting read...https://lnkd.in/e7uQ_zkc? Synthetic data has enormous potential. But where it informs real decisions, it needs corroboration. What real-world evidence underpins it? Has the output been independently validated? Can we distinguish observed from generated data? Who is accountable? This is where governance becomes critical. Standards such as ISO 20252 and ISO/IEC 42001 cannot guarantee that every conclusion is correct. But they establish controls around provenance, validation, transparency and accountability. As synthetic data becomes more convincing, “it looks right” becomes less meaningful; the better question is: “Can you demonstrate why I should trust it?” The future of research therefore cannot be a choice between AI innovation and quality governance - we are going to need considerably more of both. #SyntheticData #MarketResearch #AI #ISO20252 #ISO42001 Data & Insights Network Esomar Market Research Institute International Market Research Council MRS Quirk's Media ISO 20252 Market, opinion and social research, including insights and data analytics i-Genie.ai Trevor Sumner
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Karen Lynch reacted on thisInclusive innovation deserves an all-star conversation. Susette Brooks, MFA Director of Inclusive Marketing at Penguin Random House, is joining the panel at AMA New York's next event. Who will be guiding the conversation, you might ask? Insights extraordinaire Karen Lynch, Chief Programming Officer & Chief of Staff at Greenbook. This is going to be a good one 😎 Learn more by visiting: https://lnkd.in/gQ2xvuMQKaren Lynch reacted on thisJoin me at AMA New York on October 1st for Inclusive By Design at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. Every product, experience, and campaign carries assumptions about who a brand needs to serve. These are often assumptions shaped by existing data and processes that don't always reflect the full market. When those assumptions leave people out, organizations miss an opportunity for new insights, customers, revenue, and entire markets. I'm looking forward to digging into this topic with marketing leaders asking the right questions: Who are we overlooking? What barriers are we creating without realizing it? What becomes possible when we design for more people from the start? If you're in New York, I'd love to see you there. Details and registration here: https://lnkd.in/eavwmix3 #InclusiveMarketing #MarketingInnovation #AMANewYork
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Karen Lynch reacted on thisKaren Lynch reacted on thisWhat does it take to keep control of your story when AI is shaping how your organisation is understood? IDX™ CEO Crispin Beale joined Karen Lynch on the Greenbook Podcast to explore why communications need to be built on evidence, and why organisations must optimise for both humans and machines in the AI era. Listen now or read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dez4s4Jm #AI #AEO #NarrativeControl #DataAndInsights
Experience & Education
Licenses & Certifications
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WIRe Accelerate Professional Development Program
Women In Research (WIRe)
IssuedCredential ID PJESeGg7 -
INSIGHTS TO INNOVATION: IDEO'S APPROACH TO GATHERING HUMAN-CENTERED INSIGHTS THAT FUEL INNOVATION
IDEO
Issued -
Certificate in Facilitating and Designing Workshops with the LEGO® Serious Play® Method
Rasmussen Consulting
Issued
Volunteer Experience
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Member of the Racial Equity & Justice Task Force
Town of Fairfield, CT
- 1 year 5 months
The mission of the Racial Equity & Justice Task Force was to identify any racial and ethnic inequalities and injustices in the town governance and operations and to provide the Board of Selectmen with proposals and improvements to effectively minimize or eliminate them.
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Managing Editor, VIEWS
QRCA
- 2 years 4 months
QRCA VIEWS is a trade journal for qualitative marketing research practitioners and insights professionals. It seeks to educate the research community: QRCA members, practitioners outside the organization, research buyers, focus facilities, academics, and students.
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Chair, Creativity & Innovation Special Interest Group
QRCA
- Present 9 years 8 months
The work of this Special Interest Group is to strengthen our professional community and be a key driver of QRCA's success by facilitating creativity, innovation, and collaboration among our members.
Publications
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Quallies, Take Your Mark, Get Set, GO! How to Clear the Hurdles of Webcam Interviews
QRCA VIEWS
See publicationThis article shares the potential pitfalls of webcam research and offers and offers solutions to help you proactively plan for a successful experience.
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A Reader-Centered Approach for Social Media Writing
Better Communications Blog: Clear Writing for a Complex World
See publicationIn this article, I provide tips to help you effectively communicate via social media channels as a way to gain credibility as a trusted source, increase your folllowing and give yourself a competitive edge.
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The Artists Among Us
QRCA Views
See publicationThe article is about the various art exhibitions at various international airports — exhibits that enrich the travel experience, reflect local culture and heritage, educate and impress those who pass through. It also has ideas for your own creative excursions in the sidebar!
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How to Write a Speech as a Survivor Speaker
Blisstree.com
See publicationIn this article, I provide survivors with tips for composing an engaging and authentic speech that meets the event planner's objectives and keeps the listener's needs in mind.
Honors & Awards
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2024 Insight250 Winner
Insight250
This award honors worldwide leaders, pioneers and innovators from across the insights and market research industry.
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2016 Disruptive Innovator Award
Next Gen Market Research/Women in Research
The NGMR Awards recognize companies and individuals that have demonstrated outstanding leadership as change agents and/or made significant contributions—technological, methodological or otherwise—toward pushing the field of research in promising new directions.
A client nominated PlayFULL Insights™ -- a novel, play-based methodology for insight professionals who want to gain depth and breadth of understanding in a new way that is exciting and effective -- co-created with my friend and…The NGMR Awards recognize companies and individuals that have demonstrated outstanding leadership as change agents and/or made significant contributions—technological, methodological or otherwise—toward pushing the field of research in promising new directions.
A client nominated PlayFULL Insights™ -- a novel, play-based methodology for insight professionals who want to gain depth and breadth of understanding in a new way that is exciting and effective -- co-created with my friend and colleague Siri Lynn of Idea Exchange, Inc. -
2013 Communicator's Award of Excellence
International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA)
The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the IAVA, a 600+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media.
I wrote the award winning feature article for Pace Communications's custom publication, Triumph Magazine: "From Helpless to Helpful."
http://www.communicatorawards.com/home/
Languages
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English
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Organizations
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Creative Education Foundation
Member
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QRCA
Member
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Jeevan Sivasubramaniam
Sometimes nonfiction writers struggle to identify a compelling premise that makes their work stand out in a crowded marketplace. Part of the challenge is that they spot trends and feel compelled to offer their take—but the result is often just another version of the same story. Think of The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” the most covered song in the world with over 2,200 versions by different musicians. You probably know two versions at most. We don’t need more “covers” of the classics. Here’s a strategy a mentor shared with me decades ago that can help uncover something genuinely compelling: Most nonfiction authors have twelve or more years of experience in their field, and have read and researched extensively. So the first question I like to ask is: What still surprises you about your field? What unexpected realization pops up for you, even now that catches you off guard? If it’s surprising to someone with deep expertise who’s perhaps also a bit jaded, chances are it will be equally (if not more) unexpected—and fascinating—to a general audience. Surprise your readers with what surprised you. #publishing #books #authors #writing #nonfiction
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