Travelling to Denmark with 22 second-year Tuck students was a humbling and wonderful experience.
I am Danish and I am new to Tuck. Having these two worlds meet, greet, interact, and reflect upon each other’s obvious similarities and stark differences was an interesting and very powerful exercise for both me and the students. I can confidently say that we all learned a lot.
My storyline was simple in that I wanted to tease out the interplay between state, market, and people. Many of our visits were intended to shed light on the systemic construction of a small, democratic welfare state with a flat hierarchical structure. Everywhere we went, we were warmly welcomed, well fed, and met with a sincere pride in being Danish. But the Danish also brought an unafraid openness and curiosity around our perspectives, our questions, and any input we could offer.
“To me, the importance of a GIX is to expose ourselves to different sensibilities and cultures and to find the empathy within to deal with these differences, big and small. … We need to sharpen our ability to listen and critically reflect—with an open mind and a courageous heart.”
—Hanne Pico Larsen
To me, the importance of a GIX is to expose ourselves to different sensibilities and cultures and to find the empathy within to deal with these differences, big and small—to take what we can use from a foreign context, and develop new ideas and new sensibilities to fit our own purposes. We need to sharpen our ability to listen and critically reflect—with an open mind and a courageous heart. We were given exactly such an opportunity in Denmark, and we all embraced it. To some, it was also a deep immersion into a different culture, as they jumped into the icy Copenhagen Harbor with new friends from the Copenhagen Business School. Or skied down CopenHill, an urban waste-to-energy facility with its own ski slope. Others enjoyed warm candlelit indoor spaces, such as the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, to reflect on what we learned about work-life-balance, parental leave, five weeks of paid vacation per year, hygge, and happiness. No harm in being a bit existentialist—yes, Denmark is high on the list of happiest countries according to the Happiness Report.
We visited many companies including Novo Nordisk and Maersk, two of Denmark’s largest companies with an international profile. At both places we learned about, and debated, sustainability and a goal of a zero-waste tomorrow. At the Danish Business Authority, a governmental liaison between government and the Danish world of business, we heard about machine learning and reporting to EU. At ReD Associates, a niche, luxury, customer-centric consultancy using qualitative approaches and sensemaking, we got a different perspective on the business of consulting. We also visited Ulrick Schack T´94 at the biggest Danish media house and Alan Leventhal T´76, the American ambassador to Denmark.
I know that you would like to hear about my personal reflection, but I am not sure I can give a direct answer. The Denmark GIX evoked intangible feelings for me—ones of togetherness and of beauty in sharing an experience so intense. I am grateful for all the stories and feelings we gave room to share with each other, and I am grateful to have been part of this travelling Tuck team. I am forever proud to be both a Dane and a member of the Tuck community.
Read about the Denmark GIX from the students’ perspective.
Global Insight Expeditions (GIXs) help students develop cultural awareness, empathy for the thoughts and attitudes of local people, and agility to adapt their behavior to successfully navigate different business environments through structured reflection. Each course begins with classroom sessions on Tuck’s campus. Students then travel with one or two faculty members where they engage with corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, community leaders, government officials, and local people from different walks of life.
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