How to make research valuable

Figure yourself standing by a bridge over a deep chasm,  just about to cross. How much research are you prepared to invest in, to make sure the bridge will be safe?

Probably quite a lot, your life may be at stake.

Then, figure, you know that an angry lion probably is having his daily lunch walk not far from where you are standing. How confident do you have to be about the bridge's qualities now?

Decision making is about eliminating risks. And most difficult is it to handle risks derived from completely different dimensions, in this case "time" and "amount of knowledge". Successful decision makers identify all risks and then optimize the distribution of resources to make a decision as good as possible.

In marketing too many conduct research as there were no lion in sight. But when there suddenly is, they throw all research and run in panic. That's why essential qualities of a good marketer often are "to run fast" and "have great luck".

Over time this of course lead to a perception that research doesn't pay and thus is rather useless.

So how can we make research more valuable? Well, one way is to make it more usable. Make sure it´s possible to digest and turned into a decision before the lion is running towards you.

Here are some thoughts.

If you are a decision maker:

• Use research to identify all critical paths. Not to walk one of them. When they are all identified, then make your first decision. That decision may be very different from what the same amount of time on only one of the paths would have led to.

• Mix research with practice. Research, practice, research, practice. It's when you've practiced the results you will know if the conclusion were right and that will be essential in what direction the next research phase will take.

• Be sure to ask people you trust. Then you don't have to understand how he or she has come up with the conclusion. It's the conclusion that's important. Trust saves time.

If you are a researcher:

• Deliver research that identifies the critical paths

• Deliver usable research in small portions

• Be trustworthy

Although research may be advanced and complex the decisions that are to be based upon it normally aren't. The questions that initiated the research often are about "left" or "right", "yes" or "no". Then research should be designed to answer those questions. Before the lion bites.