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