04 / Organisational leadership

Building a research capability

Embedding discovery, testing and learning into how teams define problems and make decisions.

Original diagram showing a research cycle from discovery to validation
The challenge

Research needed a more consistent role

Research was not always embedded early enough in projects to influence decisions.

My role

Build the capability and change the habits

I established the direction for the research function and embedded a discover, test and learn cycle into project delivery. As the capability matured, I steered the team towards deeper strategic questions and end-to-end journey mapping.

What changed

Evidence as an expectation

Research became more widely requested across the business. Work included a two-month research exercise on insight content for existing and prospective clients.

Evidence

Research adoption

The programme helped establish discovery, testing and learning as repeatable practices. I have omitted an earlier adoption percentage because supporting internal measurement is unavailable.