How to Use Research to Navigate Complexity
The Case for Grounded Theory in Business
My introduction to research began, as it does for many of us, with the scientific method: crafting a hypothesis and testing it through an experiment to verify or disprove its validity. This method of knowledge development frequently appears in the business world through tools like A/B testing or MVPs.
The scientific method is incredibly useful when dealing with binary choices or known variables, helping confirm which options perform best in a specific context. For example, an A/B test might reveal which button color in an email encourages the highest click-through rate. However, it often doesn’t answer the deeper question of why that color worked best.
Navigating Complexity in Organizational Development
In modern work environments, where complexity abounds, we often face challenges that go far beyond binary decisions. We must navigate intellectual variances—what people know or don’t know—alongside social and emotional dynamics. Consider that we spend 80% of our time communicating to coordinate work. This leaves plenty of room for variation in how teams make decisions, process information, and achieve alignment.
In this context, effective work increasingly depends on conducting good research. That means:
Asking the right questions.
Gathering relevant information from credible sources.
Making sense of the information within the context of the problem at hand.
Using this sense-making process to make decisions that lead to impactful outcomes.
While our brains excel at inferring meaning, it’s often difficult to hold all the variables in our consciousness at once or to see how everything connects. This is where Grounded Theory, a powerful research methodology, becomes incredibly valuable.
What Is Grounded Theory?
Grounded Theory is a systematic research methodology developed in the 1960s by sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. It focuses on generating insights directly from data, rather than starting with a preconceived hypothesis. Often applied to qualitative data (though adaptable to quantitative and mixed methods), it involves gathering extensive information—such as interviews, memos, or documents—and categorizing it into concepts, which are further refined into categories, sub-categories, and variables.
A Simplified Example
Imagine you want to understand the best way to engage with clients to optimize your time. After interviewing your sales team, you find they interact with clients in three primary ways:
Basic communications (email, text, mail).
Marketing communications (newsletters, websites, reports).
In-person engagements (conferences, meetings, events).
“Basic communications” might become a category. Within this category, “email” could be a sub-category, and different types of client emails (e.g., follow-ups, proposals, thank-you notes) could be variables. You could go further, analyzing the specific information or phrases in emails that resonate most with clients, etc.
This process of categorization combines fragmented, potentially biased perspectives into a more comprehensive, objective understanding of the phenomenon. It enables you to identify what engagement strategies are most effective and prioritize accordingly.
Seeing the Big Picture
One of the most powerful aspects of Grounded Theory is its ability to create a visual representation of consistencies and variabilities across data. Picture each interview as a sheet of paper stacked in a pile. Categories, sub-categories, and variables align vertically, revealing areas of overlap (consistencies) and divergence (variations). All data points are considered valid, but some emerge as more prevalent or important than others.
These relationships form the basis of a theory — a framework grounded in real-world data — that guides decision-making.
Why Grounded Theory Excels in Business
Grounded Theory’s strength lies in its ability to break down complex problems into manageable components while honoring the intricacy of real-world dynamics. This makes it an ideal methodology for organizations navigating change and strategic decision-making.
Its value is especially apparent today, as effective strategies must account for:
Intellectual complexity: How we create, produce, and deliver products and services.
Social dynamics: How relationships and communication affect work.
Emotional factors: How human emotions shape experiences and decisions.
In contrast to traditional, step-by-step strategies (e.g., “Do steps 1, 2, and 3 to win the client”), success often depends on broader market contexts, social influences, and the emotional regulation of the people involved. Grounded Theory allows for a more holistic approach by incorporating intellectual, social, and emotional dimensions into organizational strategies, work practices, and go-to-market plans.
It’s no surprise that researchers like Brené Brown rely on Grounded Theory to understand human dynamics.
Building Better Relationships
At its core, Grounded Theory is about understanding how concepts relate to one another. In business — again, where 80% of our work is communication — that is exactly what we’re trying to do: build better relationships.
How to Apply Grounded Theory in Your Work
We’re all researchers to some degree. Whether you’re leading a discovery phase for a project or improving your processes, research is fundamental to progress. Here are six steps to incorporate Grounded Theory into your work:
Take meticulous notes. Somewhere along the way, we lost track of keeping good memos. Think like your inner scientist (you know, the one from 7th grade with that black and white composition notebook) and record what you did step-by-step. Block a few minutes after every meeting to record your thoughts, impressions, key points and action items.
Debrief weekly. Take a few minutes at the end of your week to review your notes and reflect on the week. What stands out as most important?
Organize key concepts. Keep a record of key concepts for each of your projects. This might be a list of key words that you define, a categorization of important ideas, or a list of questions that still need answers. Keep track of all this in one place. Use this as a guide for on-going project management.
Mine your notes. Revisit your notes, documents, and meeting transcripts for key concepts. Are there elements that you forgot about that now stand out as important? Add them to your record in step 3.
Create a concept map. Sketch out how your key concepts might relate to each other. A sketch can be an actual drawing (think mind-map, diagram or infographic), or it can be a written reflection where you try to make sense the various concepts and how they relate to each other.
Identify Patterns. Explore how your map might illustrate a process or pattern that can inform your strategy, decision-making, and communication efforts. Are there key variables that are worthy of highlighting more, or sharing more emphatically with your team, clients, stakeholders?
Once you reach saturation—where no new concepts emerge from the data—you have a robust, grounded framework to guide your decisions.
The Takeaway
Grounded Theory offers a powerful, systematic approach to making sense of complexity. By embracing this methodology, you can develop a comprehensive understanding of your work and build strategies that are not just actionable but deeply informed by real-world data.
This approach enables your organization to build a playbook that holds everyone’s perspective as valid, and transparently supports the why behind key decisions.
Onward.