Who is Candide ?

True false naive, incurable optimist and observer of the world whose lessons he learns the hard way, the Candide portrayed by Voltaire is curious by nature, philosopher out of necessity, traveller and champion of optimism in the most desperate situations. Confronted with the absurd, he responds with humour and irony, not without a dose of self-mockery. In short, a master consultant who serves as my compass throughout my career.

Of course, a consultant provides knowledge, methods, and structure, but it would be a shame to stop there: Candide invites us, through his particular wisdom, to balance our analytical thinking with a pinch of optimism and a constantly renewed desire to explore uncharted territories. Let us dare, in our practice, to make room for intuition, subjectivity, and the “human touch” that cannot be translated into numbers or graphs. Perhaps we will then gain that little extra soul that makes our profession so rewarding when we take the risk of a side path to get away from the technocratic highways for a few moments.

As Candide hoped, in this exercise in originality and sincerity,

If we do not find pleasant things, we shall at least find new things.

— Voltaire, Candide, XVII, p.35, voltaire-candide.pdf

And in any case, even if the digression proves futile and sterile from time to time, it remains true that

It is beautiful to write what one thinks: it is the privilege of man

— op. cit., XXV, p. 59

The editorial team of candide.space has no other ambition than to occasionally take you on these little offbeat excursions that aim to offer an original perspective on the world in transformation we live in. Feel free to react, comment, contradict and enrich this content. For “there is no beautiful journey without good company” (this is my own, unless I am the victim of an unconscious reminiscence).

Sincerely,

Pierre-Yves Niederhauser