In December I made the difficult decision to leave Forrester Research. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Forrester has afforded me since I first walked in the door back in 2004. My work there has changed the trajectory of my career and brought some of my best friends into my life. (You know who you are.) But over the course of several months, I realized that it was time for me to discover — and design — what comes next.

So what does come next?

I had intended to take some time off to figure that out — but as those who know me well predicted, the “time off” part didn’t exactly happen… In the two months since I’ve left Forrester, I’ve joined the board of directors for EISE, a service innovation school and startup accelerator in São Paolo; partnered with my friends at the Stockholm-based service design firm Doberman to help them grow their US business; enlisted as a lecturer for the global education and innovation firm Hyper Island; and signed on as an advocate with Design Authority, a global forum for design evangelism and integrity.

What can you expect from me as I venture off into 2014 and beyond?

• I’ll continue to think and write about customer experience. (Did you expect anything else? It’s in my blood!) I’m looking forward to blogging about a variety of CX-related topics — including many that I didn’t have a chance to cover while I was at Forrester. (Also, I’ll probably continue to write in bullet points for some time; after 7+ years as a Forrester analyst, this behavior is ingrained in me. Be patient.)
• I’ll be speaking and hanging out at industry events. I’m already lined up to speak at SXSW (March in Austin), Adaptive Path’s MX conference (March in San Francisco), the Total Customer Experience Leaders conference (April in Miami), and the World Usability Congress (September in Graz, Austria). Ping me if you’re planning to be at any of these events and want to get together.
• I’ll be developing new ways to help companies not only survive — but thrive —during this time of rising consumer expectations and technology-driven disruption. If you think I can help your organization, shoot me a note.
• I’ll be putting my design skills and newfound entrepreneurial bug to the test on several digital service projects that I’ve recently dreamed up. Stay tuned for more details in the months ahead.
• I’ll be having coffee, dinner, or artisanal cocktails with old and new friends around the world. I’ll let you know if I’m going to be in your neighborhood. Please do the same.
• I will take a vacation at some point.

Please let me know if you’d like to be a part of the future I’m designing. It’s going to be fun.

Update April 27, 2014: I finally took my vacation! This photo is from a hiking trail in southwest Utah.