A recent issue of Research World had an interesting interview with Charles Leadbeater, advisor, broker of ideas and author of Living on Thin Air amongst other publications.
Coining the phrase ‘conversational culture’, he proposes that the most successful and innovative companies are those that are ‘very conversational’, i.e. those that encourage an environment where people from different departments and backgrounds exchange ideas.
I couldn’t agree more. There’s nothing more painful than watching R&D enthuse about some idea that’s obsessed them for months, or even years, on end only to watch it disintegrate before their eyes when exposed to consumers.
When it comes to discussion of market research however, it is clear that Leadbeater isn’t so well informed (‘somebody asking questions with a clipboard’!). His suggestion that insights can shape markets isn’t entirely new. To encourage a more ‘conversational culture’ in market research, it is surely the relationship between researchers and clients/agencies that needs to be the focus of attention, an old gripe I know. The most successful projects we work on tend to be those where the client is willing to share and discuss information they already have and where open debate and flexibility about the research process is seen as beneficial rather than unusual. Of course, this goes on already, but there are still plenty of companies who see researchers as outsiders and knowledge as something to be hoarded not shared. As any user of Digg or Wikipedia will tell you this is not a good mindset!
Nick
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