Summary
Human science is well suited for informing corporate strategy. Since big decisions in companies are bets on human behavior, having someone at the table specialized in humans can be helpful. So why is it that the logic of finance and technology dominates most strategy processes? Why are we, human scientists, are not as influential as we could be? Drawing on stories from his 20 years as an advisor, Christian will share how the human sciences can – and why they should – be part of the most important and consequential decisions companies make.
Key Insights
-
•
Less than 10% of big corporate decisions are based on research despite the $80-85 billion market size of research industry.
-
•
Research influence requires understanding the internal culture and language of an organization as much as understanding customers.
-
•
The metaphor of music—harmony, rhythm, and dissonance—is effective for understanding how to advise organizational leadership.
-
•
Financial literacy and understanding money flows inside a company are crucial for research to influence corporate strategy.
-
•
Understanding the internal rhythm or cadence of a company is key to knowing when to introduce changes or new ideas.
-
•
Introducing new ideas (dissonance) must be done with precision and timing, or they will be dismissed.
-
•
Presenting insights with memorable hooks or riffs helps executives remember and act on them long after the presentation.
-
•
Ethnographers and human scientists often focus externally but must devote at least half their attention internally within organizations.
-
•
Some organizations, such as tech and social media firms, have extremely obscure financial logic, making advising especially challenging.
-
•
Continuous practice, learning, and business understanding are necessary for researchers to remain credible advisors at the executive level.
Notable Quotes
"Managing up already accepts that we’re below. I don’t accept that premise. Advice is partnerships and you’re equals."
"The best metaphor for the skill set necessary to turn research into advice is musicality—understanding harmony, rhythm, and dissonance."
"If you don’t understand how money moves inside an organization, you’re financially illiterate and won’t be influential."
"Every organization has a rhythm or cadence, and if you don’t feel it, you’ll be offbeat and irrelevant."
"Introducing new ideas is like playing a note out of tune—you have to be extremely precise or be dismissed immediately."
"Executives often listen like critics awaiting a mistake; you must prepare to pierce assumptions with surgical precision."
"Hooks or riffs in your presentation are necessary because if there’s no memorable story, executives will forget everything."
"The little black dress story made sports executives rethink success beyond winning gold, quadrupling revenue."
"If you stop reading journals and practicing your instrument, you’re done as an advisor."
"Tech companies on the West Coast can have completely obscured financial logic, requiring deep ethnographic understanding before advising."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The hardest part about remote is making design reviews feel collaborative and team-based."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"Developing trust means showing you understand what it takes to get something shipped, that you’re reliable, and that people can be vulnerable with you."
Peter MerholzThe Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX (Videoconference)
July 13, 2023
"Nobody knows who’s supposed to decide what around digital, and that’s the problem."
Lisa WelchmanCleaning Up Our Mess: Digital Governance for Designers
June 14, 2018
"Sustainable practices are not just a luxury; they are a necessity for our survival."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"OKRs are a tool for each of us to tidy our house and focus on what’s important."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"Hip hop proves that we can re-animate spaces with highly generative communities that weren't built for us."
Tricia WangSpatial Collapse: Designing for Emergent Culture
January 8, 2024
"We aimed for research that is actionable, not just insightful or pretty to look at."
Edgar Anzaldua MorenoUsing Research to Determine Unique Value Proposition
March 11, 2021
"Service lines bridge the gaps between product lines through information flows to provide the right knowledge at the right time."
Designing Systems at Scale
November 7, 2018
"Ethics evolve faster than law; just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
