Rebel Consulting. That was what I was going to call my company. In English because I think Bergen is the world's finest city to work internationally from. Rebel, because I want to appear different to a traditional consultancy. This applies both to the way the company is to be built up, with values firmly at the center of what we do and without any kind of partner structure, but also to how we are to work with customers and projects.
Unfortunately, Rebel Consulting was already in use. Shit pom fry. But when good advice is expensive and creativity is endless, the solution descended like Christmas Eve on the toddler's father, and simsalabim then Hundvin was translated into Dogwine. Dogwine Rebel Consulting was born, and our journey could begin.
Our. Here I already face the first challenge. I say we, but the truth is that today Dogwine consists of 1 rebel. So we are me. At the same time, the ambitions for Dogwine are somewhat greater, so even though there is hardly 1 employee today, I have chosen to go for it. Me and you and the two of us and all that. Because before I know it, one has become 2, and from there it can roll on.
But what is a rebel? To me, a rebel is someone who thinks differently. Which breaks norms, and sometimes also rules, in order to drive development. I have chosen to define a rebel as:
And this is what I am looking for; see things from another side. I find that many organizations need someone who thinks differently, who dares to challenge in the best sense, and who is there shoulder to shoulder when the going gets tough. Someone who has been out on a winter night before, and who is not afraid of the demanding days.
Vestlandskonferansen 2024 was the place where I sat and really tasted the word rebel. With slight fascination and a little irritation, I sat in the back row in Grieghallen and let my gaze slide over the assembly. I felt astonishment that a gathering of what I perceived to be reasonably middle-of-the-road drivers felt the gas pedal jerk when the floodlights were turned on for what can only be said to be an impressive and inspiring event (huge kudos to the Kulturoperatørene and Agenda Vestlandet!). Then the question is whether you think Gøran Person was the highlight of the day on the programme; If so, I'd love to have a coffee!
I have become quite smooth after all. The stubble has been trimmed to exactly 6mm, the cock's comb is gone and the wrestling jersey has been replaced with a correctly colored pique. And here I fall right into the bias trap myself. I have a pretty fixed mindset about what a rebel looks like. What a rebel says, does and behaves. And here my own prejudices were strongly challenged, because what makes me entitled to define a rebel?
We all have roles in life. We do go in and out of different variants of them, we develop and we think differently about issues tomorrow than we did yesterday. Luckily. And here comes the point of Dogwine. We must always be different. We must always challenge, dare to give honest and clear feedback and work to move opinions and attitudes into the future.
Dogwine is live, and I can't wait to build on a concept I believe in so fundamentally. To drink even more cups of coffee with fellow rebels in other companies or you who need someone to challenge. To all of you who want to be challenged, challenge others or need someone to spar with.