Reinvention in Life and Business
Blog | April 25, 2025
By: Ken Berry, SVP Strategic Partnerships
The past few months have marked a defining chapter in my professional journey. The acquisition of Jibunu by OpinionRoute joined two companies with a shared commitment to empower researchers. As we combine our strengths, I’ve been reflecting on how to strike a thoughtful balance—celebrating what’s new while honoring the qualities that made each company trusted in the first place. In many ways, it parallels the transitions we experience in life, where growth requires both evolution and clarity.
When people form an idea about who you are or what your business represents, that perception lingers—even when reality evolves. This “permanence” often blocks external awareness of growth and evolution. It’s only when a clear line is drawn, separating the past from the present, that a long-time transformation becomes something others cannot ignore.
Life and business both offer a limited number of natural opportunities for reinvention—moments where the slate is wiped clean, and perception can shift without resistance.
Our personal or professional reputation is a construct built on permanence—an enduring perception shaped by past actions, experiences, and the mental frameworks through which people see the world. This concept of permanence is deeply ingrained in human cognition, rooted in an early stage of development known as object permanence.
Personal Evolutions
In our personal lives, the first major opportunity for most people to reinvent themselves comes after high school graduation. Until then, many of us have lived in the same town, with the same friends, common teachers, and community members who have watched us grow and evolve. While personal change happens throughout those years, it is often framed within the understanding of who we were. Even significant transformations—new interests, personality shifts, or a re-defined sense of self—can be difficult for others to accept.
But once we step into a new environment, whether it’s college, a job, or a fresh social circle, those prior perceptions lose their hold. The reinventions that people notice post-high school are often not new at all—they are simply recognized for the first time because they are being seen by people who don’t have a pre-existing version of us in mind.
Professional Growth
The same principle applies in business. If our company, our product, or even our leadership evolves, how do we ensure that change is visible rather than weighed down by the permanence of old perceptions? The key lies in deliberately drawing lines, ensuring that the reinvention isn’t just happening, but is acknowledged.
Creating these lines requires intentionality. Sometimes, the best way to highlight change is to draw attention to what existed, then draw a clear contrast between then and now.
Case Study: “The Worst Pizza Ever.”
Domino’s executed this masterfully in 2009 when they overhauled their pizza recipe and reshaped public perception of their brand. Instead of quietly making improvements and hoping customers would eventually notice, they leaned into public criticism, openly admitting that their pizza had a bad reputation. Through their bold “Pizza Turnaround” campaign, they showcased negative feedback, addressed their shortcomings, and committed to a fresh start with better recipes and new products. By doing so, they didn’t just change—they made sure their change was seen.
OpinionRoute has always been known as a trusted provider of sample and fieldwork with quality, but behind the scenes, we built something more. In July of 2023, we unveiled the Navigator, a technology offering that had been quietly evolving over time. While we knew the impact this platform had for us, the industry struggled at first to recognize how this fit into their knowledge of us. Why? Because we never stopped delivering the quality sample and field management that earned our reputation.
My journey was similar while building Jibunu for more than 20 years. We first earned our reputation by saying yes! We would embrace tackling the hardest research surveys that could be conceived. We would bring to life research concepts that most others would not. We earned our reputation for our technical acumen.
Behind the scenes, we also built software to empower our work. Our Jibunu platform was robust in many ways. But I also felt we never properly communicated the platform value to clients. Maybe they had a set perception of what we were?
Now, with the acquisition of Jibunu by OpinionRoute, we both have a clear opportunity to draw the line between what we were and what we have become. Together, we are more than just a superior provider of sample, fieldwork, and programming.
We are a technology-driven force empowering researchers to work smarter, increase efficiency, and do more with less. This is our moment to reshape how researchers approach their process, alleviating headaches and unlocking new possibilities.
The OpinionRoute you thought you knew is only part of the story—now, it’s time to discover the OpinionRoute you never knew existed.