If/Then The Joy of Discovery and Why Research Matters
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Aug 13, 2025 Deborah H. Gruenfeld, a senior associate dean and professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, explores the profound impact of academic research on organizations and individuals. She emphasizes how research provides reliable tools to understand truths beyond personal experiences. Topics include the vital role of interdisciplinary approaches in business and how leadership shapes cultural dynamics. Gruenfeld also discusses the significance of untapped research areas like gendering in technology and celebrates the joy of discovery and continuous learning.
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Research Reveals What Firsthand Experience Misses
- Research provides tools and methods to learn what's true beyond unreliable firsthand experience.
- It builds a trustworthy, generalizable body of knowledge about cause-effect in the world.
Innovation Often Comes From The Organizational Edge
- Deborah Gruenfeld describes Amir Goldberg's study showing innovation often comes from the organizational periphery.
- He used massive data and controls to show why outside ideas fail to scale inside companies.
Nonproprietary Research Protects Against Bias
- Academic research uses design and peer review to counter researchers' biases and vested interests.
- That independence makes findings more reliable than proprietary research with built-in incentives.