Research Debt and How to Avoid it (Atomic Essay Day 05)

I have been reading ‘The Hard Things About Hard Things’ and with every page I read, I feel like throwing a mental punch for not reading the book earlier.

Today I came across 2 new terms in the book - technical debt and management debt. They refer to decisions which are ‘expedient in the short-term’ but have an ‘expensive long-term consequence’. An example of management debt he gives is - overcompensating a key employee, because she gets another job offer.

I was thinking of a similar analogy for research. Most organisations avoid doing research because of one or more of the following -

• “It takes too much time”

• “We already know what our customers want.”

• “We don’t have the budget for it”

• “We don’t have the skills to do it.”

And while the opportunity cost of doing research might seem high, the benefits of it are much much higher. Here are a few ways in which research can add value to your organisation -

• Gauge the viability of a new sector/ market/ user

• Identify behaviours/ needs/ motivations of your users

• Test a product/ strategy you have built

Here are some ways in which you can avoid research debt -

• Get research a seat at the table early - the earlier research can get involved in your development cycle, the more value it can add

• Know what you don't know - There will always be things that you don't know about the sector/ user/ problem you're working on. Differentiate between fact, insight, inkling and hypothesis.

• Do not reinvent the wheel - The world is smaller than you think, learn from other people - Google that sh*t

• All others must bring users - Data is overrated. Data will only tell you what, people will tell you why. Just listen.