Influencing Strategy
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
-
•
Advising executives is best approached as a partnership of equals, not managing from below.
-
•
Less than 10% of big corporate decisions are truly driven by research despite the industry’s size.
-
•
Understanding the internal harmony of an organization—including jargon, assumptions, and financial flows—is crucial to influence.
-
•
A company's financial literacy is fundamental for researchers to gain strategic influence.
-
•
Each organization has a distinct rhythm or cadence that governs timing for change and decision-making.
-
•
Introducing challenging ideas (dissonance) requires precise timing, minimal new concepts at once, and a foolproof presentation.
-
•
Memorable hooks or riffs—small, repeatable stories—are vital for executives to retain and act on insights.
-
•
Ethnographic skills are as important internally as they are externally in understanding organizations.
-
•
Deep understanding of both micro organizational rhythm and broader societal context is necessary for impactful advice.
-
•
Opaque or complex business models, especially in tech, require intense ethnographic effort before credible advice can be given.
Notable Quotes
"Managing up assumes research is below something, but I see advising as partnerships and equals."
"Less than 10% of big decisions are based on research, which is rare given how much we spend on it."
"If you don’t understand the financial flow in an organization, you’re financially illiterate and you’re on top."
"The rhythm of a company is like a drumbeat—knowing when to suggest changes is everything."
"I wasted five years being blind to the rhythm of the place before we moved billions of dollars addressing major issues."
"When you introduce dissonance, people listen only to catch your mistakes, so you have to be precise like tweezers."
"Without memorable hooks or riffs in your presentation, executives forget your message the minute they leave."
"The story of the immunotherapy patient and his daughters became a riff that executives remember to understand complex life impacts."
"Ethnography inside companies is about living in France and caring to learn French."
"If you stop reading journals and practicing your instrument, you’re done as an expert."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Hugh Dubberly argues we should stop describing design as problem solving and instead see it as engaged conversation."
Daniel GloydDesigning From the Inside Out: How Method Acting Can Inspire Design Research
February 12, 2026
"I just feel like you’re talking to robots in the system a lot. They don’t have any awareness of other people’s cultures or worldviews."
Deirdre Hirschtritt Cesar Paredes Marie PerrotResearch is Only as Good as the Relationships You Build
November 17, 2022
"It was like giving a map that you could not read or even understand."
Benjamin RealMaturity Models: A Core Tool for Creating a DesignOps Strategy
October 1, 2021
"It’s really important to understand your own mental bandwidth and not take on too much even if the project excites you."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"Rob Meetzel knows Ford as the back of his hand after nearly 30 years."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 1: Intro
January 8, 2024
"If it feels uncomfortable, you’re probably doing something right."
Feyikemi AkinwolemiwaPlay to innovate: How curiosity and experimentation transform UX
March 11, 2026
"If you want to participate in the conference’s general vibe and community, it is essential to join Slack."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
March 29, 2023
"Even if you’re not doing facial recognition, storing face and voice data is under growing legal scrutiny."
Llewyn Paine[Demo] Deploying AI doppelgangers to de-identify user research recordings
June 5, 2024
"Accessibility is a great example where OKRs can unify multiple product and design teams to a non-negotiable standard."
Bria Alexander Benson Low Natalya Pemberton Stephanie GoldthorpeOKRs—Helpful or Harmful?
January 20, 2022
