Navigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
This video is featured in the PDI 2026 playlist.
Summary
Organizations are organic, evolving systems with complex relational dynamics and power structures, both within the system and among its people. These systems are being reshaped by shifts in culture and technology, just as the research function and methodologies are. As researchers take on a more powerful, holistic role as knowledge curators, we must rethink how we communicate and navigate these complexities to drive meaningful change. By considering these changed relational dynamics, we will explore how researchers can center themselves to transform insights into received wisdom that has the power to shape and influence organizational systems at scale.
Key Insights
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User research has become overly focused on transactional, prototype-driven insights limiting broader organizational impact.
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Researchers' core purpose should be to help organizations learn about customers and themselves through systemic feedback loops.
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Gareth Morgan's organizational metaphors reveal how dominant lenses shape what organizations see and ignore.
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The 20th-century 'machine' lens emphasizes breaking problems into parts, efficiency, hierarchy, and control but neglects holistic complexity.
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The 21st-century 'techno-optimist hacker' lens prioritizes rapid innovation and growth but often creates blind spots and social consequences.
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A living systems lens sees organizations as dynamic networks of relationships, encouraging systemic thinking and long-term effects consideration.
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In an era of perpetual upheaval, the essential leadership ability is navigating complex, ambiguous systems through learning and adaptation.
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Researchers must develop consulting, facilitation, and influencing skills to become effective agents of organizational learning.
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Practicing systems thinking can start with small, tactical actions like mapping stakeholders and processes to reveal hidden misalignments.
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Sensemaking is the researcher's superpower to integrate fragmented information, reveal organizational lenses, and drive better decision-making.
Notable Quotes
"Simon Roberts calls this the UX ification of research, which leads to a more transactional focus on informing technology requirements."
"The only thing any of us can control is how quickly we learn and then act based on that learning."
"Researchers make customers visible inside the organization, but also help the organization learn about itself."
"A metaphor is like a flashlight—it shines on some things and keeps others in the dark."
"The machine lens gave us hierarchy, bureaucracy, and a focus on efficiency and control, but it sidelines holistic thinking."
"The techno-optimist hacker lens believes growth is the only metric that matters, enabling disruption but causing blind spots."
"A living systems lens urges us to see wholes, holes, and interdependent relationships in organizations."
"We’re not going back to stability; we’re riding this wave of perpetual upheaval and must learn to surf it."
"Learning is the new knowing, and researchers are catalysts of organizational learning."
"Sensemaking is your superpower as a researcher to amplify your impact beyond user experience mechanics."
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