Ethnography + Coaching + Design
My approach to consulting
I support teams in designing process-based research to discover the needs of the populations they serve and uncover emergent solutions to meet these needs. I use a unique method that blends Ethnography, Design Thinking, and Nonviolent Communication, a practice of empathetic listening and conflict mediation.
I love ethnography. I specialize in teaching teams how to navigate uncertainty and how to lean into obstacles and findings that diverge from what they anticipated. To me, encountering the unexpected is a sign of a research process that is working. I see it as a springboard for creativity to listen and design for the right problems to solve.
My background and training
As a scholar-practitioner, I teach ethnography in academic and corporate settings. I have a PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University. I have worked as a lecturer at the Stanford d.School and the Department of Anthropology.
My doctoral research focused on credit, debt, speculation and financial networks in the Indian Ocean region. My research and writing was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the Stanford SEED Foundation.
I talk about my research and my process of integrating Anthropology, Design Thinking and Nonviolent Communication in my conversation with Adam Gamwell in his podcast This Anthro Life.
The Emergent Research Process
Emergent Research is a qualitative research process that uncovers insights that remain untapped in structured or semi-structured interviews.
Researchers with this skillset listen in a way that facilitates the emergence of insights that they can’t anticipate beforehand.
As the process focuses on attunement, it facilitates a deep level of trust and rapport-building early in an interview and creates the conditions for interviewees to openly share.
It brings a much higher level of depth, accuracy, and understanding of issues faced by interviewees within a short timeframe.
Emergent research generates findings that enable a design process that meets the needs of users with a greater degree of precision.
Researchers trained in this method become adept at moving from research to design and communicating their findings across disciplinary differences.
Services
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Leadership Coaching for Paving the Way
This program provides leadership coaching for managers and heads of research to advocate for research within the company. It supports leaders to stay grounded in the value of ethnographic work and bring the heart of the insights and findings to guide and shape what is built.
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The Emergent Research Training Program
This is a 4-part training program on the Emergent Research Process, a method of conducting ethnographic research that facilitates discovery through deep listening. It trains teams to move beyond the interview guide to uncover questions that lead to the richest insights and solutions.
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Workshops for Collaboration Between Teams
I run workshops on empathy, unblocking creativity, collaboration, difficult conversations, and conflict resolution for teams. These workshops support design researchers, anthropologists, and engineers in communicating across disciplinary differences to facilitate co-creation.
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Talks on Designing Thriving Working Lives
I give talks on navigating ambiguity in research, listening when it is hard to hear, difficult conversations, creativity, and collaboration. The topics range from ‘how fear blocks the creative process,” “things designers forget to see,” “how to find flow” and “the power of leaning into uncertainty.”