About Signal/Noise
Signal/Noise is a website that provides commentary on topics such as business, politics & political risk, technology, innovation, research methodology and analysis, crowdsourcing & open innovation, business planning & forecasting, and data analytics. If there is a general theme that runs through the site, it is my personal obsession with information and analysis, in particular the various ways that we can separate credible information from the vast noise that exists. In particular, I am interested in how we can determine when people and organizations can be trusted in situations where they have an incentive to deceive–i.e. when the signals they send can be deemed credible. Moreover, I am interested in how we can craft better signals of our own so that we can engender trust and credibility with those we interact with (at least, when it is advantageous to do so).
About Bill Petti
Currently, I am a Senior Consultant with Gallup Consulting based in Princeton, NJ. I work with senior executives at various pharmaceutical, financial, and consumer packaged goods companies to help them align their human capital and processes with their overall strategy to drive top and bottom line results. (That’s consultant-speak for “I help companies perform better”).
Starting in 2011 I will be writing a weekly column at Beyond the Box Score, a sabermetric-slanted site dedicated to baseball analysis.
Prior to Gallup, I was an Account Manager with Gerson Lehrman Group‘s Life Sciences division based in New York, NY. While at GLG, I assisted senior pharmaceutical and technology executives in strategy, business development, market research, competitive intelligence, and R&D with the execution of primary research in the support of market analysis, licensing and partner evaluation, due diligence, and new product development. Additionally, I led a number of internal initiatives including: the strategic identification of new buying centers, in-depth analysis of client life-cycle & forecasting methodology, and creation of analytics dashboard to assess client activity and revenue.
Prior to joining Gerson Lehrman Group, I spent two years with Kroll (a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies) as a Client Executive. While at Kroll, I worked with national and global Fortune 500 clients in the financial, aerospace & defense, life sciences, and professional services sectors.
Before Kroll, I worked in academia as an instructor and research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and The College of New Jersey focusing on global political economy, international relations & international law, and research methodology. I hold a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science (with Honors) from The College of New Jersey, a Masters of Arts (with Distinction) in Political Science from Temple University, and a Masters of Arts (with Distinction) in Political Science with a focus on International Security from the University of Pennsylvania. I am currently writing my dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania on “Conspicuous Conflicts”.
As a recovering academic I occasionally comment on international relations, politics, and social science at the group blog The Duck of Minerva.
Additionally, I am a former member of the Courier-Post’s Community Editorial Board. My commentary has appeared in the print edition of the paper as well as the Board’s blog.
My wife, Kate, and I live in Cherry Hill, NJ along with our two children.
See my LinkedIn profile for more information.
*The views expressed on this website do not reflect those of Gallup Consulting and are solely those of its author.
[...] Bill Petti of Duck of Minerva fame has just started a new blog- Bill Petti. He explains: Since my grad school days I have been blogging on and off at The Duck of Minerva, under both my name and the pseudonym Randy Waterhouse. (Fans of Neal Stephenson will immediately recognize the reference). However, as I’ve moved away from academia my interests have shifted–or more accurately, broadened to include topics such as business, innovation, technology, and social media. The Duck is really a vehicle for commenting on global politics from an analytical and academic perspective. As such, it really isn’t the venue to talk about new technologies, abstract thoughts on innovation and creativity, or to offer musings on business and the economy. [...]
Hello, just to let you know I have now posted my Reference List on Data Visualisation Sources on the net, with your blog near the top. Keep up the good work!
[...] Note: Bill Petti is a Senior Consultant at Gallup and maintains a blog, Signal/Noise, dedicated to musings on [...]