Ethnography (Greek ἔθνος ethnos = people and γράφειν graphein = writing) is a genre of writing that uses fieldwork to provide a descriptive study of human societies. Ethnography presents the results of a holistic research method founded on the idea that a system’s properties cannot necessarily be accurately understood independently of each other.
[taken from www.wikipedia.org]
In the simplest possible terms, ethnography means studying subjects in an environment where they are free to act as they wish.
Solving wicked problems using ethnography
A recent article, written by Ken Anderson, in the Harvard Business Review [March 2009] talks about how Intel is using ethnographic research for finding out what the end users feel about the things they use. This is helping Intel in creating a strategy for the future - a strategy which is going to be based on how humans function in their natural habitat as opposed to how they function in control settings like survey groups and closed room focus group discussions. Finding out the context in which human beings use products and determining how the products provide value to all the diverse personalities using it is an example of a wicked problem. Intel is now going to be able to more soundly judge the merits of a technical feature in its upcoming products in the context of how it provides value to teenagers versus their grand parents. Since a ‘one size fits all’ approach no longer works for all customers across the spectrum, Intel is going to benefit from all the findings of its ethnographic research.
In a previous post [read it here], I wrote about how innovation in management is critical if we are to identify useful solutions for wicked problems. Reading this article in the HBR made me revisit my earlier thoughts and provided a real life example of using integrative thinking and management innovation for solving wicked problems. By utilizing ethnographic research, Intel is innovating management.
I am sure there are other organizations which use similar, if not the same, approach for their management strategies. Please drop in a line if you know of other examples.
