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How to create actionable insight in the face of politics and silos [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
Summary
Three of your research colleagues discussed and defended their respective positions on creating actionable insight in the face of politics and silos. Pariticipants then engaged with them in a discussion and Q&A, facilitated by Robin Beers. “In organizations that may not incentivize informed decision-making, researchers need to study power dynamics, cultivate their political influence, and consistently communicate their value to the business.” – Sonja Bobrowska “AI tools will change the way people consume researchers, relying more and more on receiving personalized summaries. This will only exacerbate silos and lead to miscommunication. To avoid this, the best skill researchers can learn is creating compelling visual frameworks rather than weighty reports.” – Mujtaba Hameed “The best report and presentation ever do not necessarily mean your findings will be adopted. Insights virtually don’t exist if you aren’t able to make them stick by putting them to work.” – Josh Morales
Key Insights
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Actionable insights are not just immediate decisions but include long-term organizational adoption and mindset shifts.
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Time is essential for research findings to be digested and become actionable, sometimes taking years.
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Building relationships and trust within organizations is key for researchers to influence decision-making effectively.
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Researchers often perform 'invisible work' akin to political navigation to understand power flows and align insights.
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Conflict from research crossing silos is not necessarily bad and can be a catalyst for better cross-team collaboration.
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Success in research impact can be defined as enabling clients to gain influence and seat at decision-making tables.
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Embedding researchers within product teams enhances collaboration and increases the likelihood of insights being used.
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Different organizational cultures require experimentation with communication styles for insights to resonate.
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Researchers should set low expectations and not take failures in insight adoption personally due to factors beyond their control.
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Understanding organizational history and power structures supports more believable and impactful research narratives.
Notable Quotes
"If we only measure actionable insights by immediate changes, we are losing a lot of the power that research has."
"The one ingredient that made some of the insights work was simply time."
"I don’t care about what’s actionable for a company. I care about what’s actionable for my client’s career and influence."
"Insights virtually don’t exist if you aren’t able to make them stick by putting them to work."
"You need to build relationships and understand who needs to be convinced and what convinces them."
"Conflict is not bad if it leads to something more sustainable and teams realizing they work together."
"Silos naturally create power through isolation, so it’s helpful to think of them as a staple and work with them."
"The researchers’ work is just the tip of the iceberg; the invisible work is about politics, power, and relationships."
"If you have a terrible boss, you can do an ethnography of your own organization disguised as friendly connection."
"We need the serenity to accept things we cannot change and the courage to change what we can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
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