Last year, I was conducting a patient immersion session with a client team.  The videos from the ethnographic work portrayed the suffering of the patients, and the extent to which their lives had been disrupted by their health condition. Most members of the cross-functional team were completely absorbed in the experience, and were feeling a little low. All of a sudden, a member from the marketing team beamed at the entire group and said, “Our target segments are happy, confident and optimistic“ as if he wasn’t seeing what was transpiring right in front of his eyes. In his mind, the segments described in a black and white manner in the original presentation, were frozen. It occurred to me that in marketing we are often guilty of such behaviour where we get stuck on a framework, technique, or concept that blocks us from getting real insight, and this can lead our business in the wrong direction especially in a world that is rapidly changing. Conversely, when we can be truly mindful in the way we approach insights, our capacity to observe, empathise, and ultimately understand people heightens dramatically. We are on a path to discovering something new, and we develop products and experiences that satisfy a genuine need.

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So how can we become mindful, and be sensitive to what is actually happening? How do we ensure that our actions are grounded in true insight?  This requires constant practice. Given below are five ideas that I have found helpful:

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1. Being aware of the Einstellung effect: The first step to change is often having awareness of a problem. Einstellung or “installation” in German refers to the phenomenon of an idea lodging itself in our minds that prevents us from learning something new. All of us are susceptible to this. At a first level, if we become aware of this tendency, we are likely to be more receptive to the idea that our current understanding might be only a partial view of a situation that can be improved with fresh information.

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2. Focusing on purpose: If we keep going back to why we are conducting a project, we are likely to be less dogmatic about a framework, approach or technique. For instance, if our purpose is to deliver a better patient experience, and somewhere along our project we discover that for certain patients the main source of disruption to their quality of life is the manner in which a medication is administered, our innovation effort will be focused on making the delivery of the drug more convenient. It wouldn’t matter then that the original segmentation work did not surface this need in a significant manner for any of the segments. 

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3. Following specific practices: Mindfulness requires being in a receptive state both in the way we conduct ourselves individually, and in the way we interact with others. I like to think of the practices at three levels:

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1. Creating the right environment: This may include modifying your physical space, e.g., clearing up your desk or workstation of any clutter or minimising distractions, e.g., logging out of social networking sites. Often, the very act of modifying your physical space serves as a ritual to get you in a more concentrated state. It is for this reason that I personally like setting up the venue for qualitative research before I begin moderating.
 

2. Getting one’s mind and body in a receptive state: I try to practise the meditational and breathing exercises taught by Zen Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh to help me be more present. But, there may be other ways as well of getting into a receptive state such as going for a run or indulging in one’s favourite hobby, e.g. playing music, to reinvigorate one’s mind.
 

3. Setting guidelines for team interactions: Even if we are individually mindful, in team situations the group dynamics can weaken our presence, e.g., through excessive banter. One solution is to set guidelines that allow for a better interaction. For instance, when client teams observe qualitative research, I request them to switch off all devices, maintain a certain level of silence, and spend time noticing what is happening, e.g., listening for particular sentences or looking at facial expressions, rather than trying to come to conclusions during the interaction.   

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4. Adopting insights techniques that give us a first-hand experience of people’s lives: 

Currently, I’m doing ethnographic work with people who are suffering from extreme chronic pain. Placing myself in the context of their lives and spending hours speaking to them gives me a glimpse of the physical and psychological suffering that they are experiencing due to their pain and the side effects of the medication to alleviate it. I can’t even imagine how one can reach an understanding based on a quantitative survey questionnaire or any other less sensitive tool.

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5. Continuously engaging with people over the long term: 

We now have the benefit of setting up interactive communities which allow for long term engagement with people using different modes of communication.  There is no reason to limit our understanding based on a snapshot research study. 

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To end this blog, I will quote a favourite Zen saying -

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“Don’t mistake the menu for the food, stop eating the menu” (Source: Osho on Zen)

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