What is Research Strategy?
Summary
As a Research Strategist, Chris is frequently asked “What is Research Strategy?” Let's start a conversation that defines this practice and develops its approaches. Research Strategy brings processes and frameworks to bear to ensure that an organization’s research activities are deliberate, effective, and aligned with business objectives. Notably, it is not just the purview of research leadership! All of us are already engaged in this work, but we haven’t been talking about it as such. Chris will present his work in this area and invite others to join him in evolving this emerging practice.
Key Insights
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Many organizations lack a formal research strategy, but having one is critical to being taken seriously and having strategic impact.
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A research mission statement serves as a North Star, guiding what to say yes and no to and clarifying research’s value proposition.
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Saying no to some research projects is essential because without saying no, you only have urgency, not strategy.
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The questions workshop helps teams surface unknowns and assumptions, transforming them into aligned research opportunities.
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Prioritization should be a structured team conversation using an assessment matrix considering factors like risk, value, buy-in, time, and effort.
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Measuring research impact requires checking both whether the project achieved its aims and if the research was actually used.
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Researchers rarely follow up post-study to see if insights were implemented or successful, which limits learning and recognition of impact.
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Research strategy should ladder up to and align with broader corporate strategies, even if those are unclear or evolving.
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Strategic research practice is not solely a leadership responsibility; individual contributors and small teams can and should adopt it.
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Communities and shared vocabularies around research strategy are emerging, reminiscent of early days of research operations, encouraging collaboration.
Notable Quotes
"If we’re not able to talk about research as a basket of potential investments driving innovation or de-risking decisions, maybe we don’t deserve a seat at the table."
"Research strategy is how we stop wasting time on bullshit projects that don’t drive results."
"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
"You have a strategy either by design or by default; most often, that default is doing whatever is most politically expedient or urgent."
"Saying no to a research request is actually saying yes to better focused, higher impact work elsewhere."
"The questions workshop is about surfacing unknowns, assumptions, and turning them into aligned research opportunities."
"Prioritization isn’t about scoring to pick projects, but about facilitating discussion and aligning the team’s understanding."
"It’s too infrequent researchers ask what metrics PMs are being held to or follow up months later on project outcomes."
"Where I work, we don’t have a centralized research function; we pilot tools locally and then share them more broadly, showing strategy can start anywhere."
"I want to see us running companies that prize curiosity over confidence, making decisions based on users’ unmet needs rather than business assumptions."
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