All Things Insights Blog
Why the Art of Observation is Meaningless Without Applied Behavioral Sciences
Seth Adler w/ Jessica Southard | 9 May2022
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Discussion w/ Jessica Southard
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It does feel like it’s the good ones that go first.
Loren Mahon was a great person who lost her protracted battle with cancer. It turns out that I met her late in her life. But I did know her for a few years and we struck up a true friendship. She taught me the art of meditation- one that I’ve not been so great about practicing. We each loved our respective dogs which were a common thread of conversation. But beyond a focus on companion mammals, Loren’s expertise was in being human. She had figured out what mattered, how to cope and thus how to face her battle with strength and dignity.
You may have noticed that I’ve referred to myself as an unlicensed anthropologist along the way. I once asked Loren if that was an appropriate way to self-refer. Her response was “it’s ok. You’re engaging in anthropological thinking if you’re taking what you’re learning and applying it to yourself and others. It sounds like you’re doing that so you can check that box.”
I noted that the hardest part was the self-application part and asked why that was the case. Loren replied, “if you’re a practicing anthropologist, the only way you can understand and articulate another culture is to make sure you understand your own and how you operate in it.” She went on to explain that if you’re not self-aware then it's very difficult to take what you’re observing and then apply it.
As Loren had a Masters in Applied Anthropology, her qualifications make that statement not an opinion, but a fact. And so that conversation with Loren came to mind when I had a chance to have a quick conversation with Jessica Southard of Mars about what she calls “People Science.” ‘People Science’ is Jessica’s term for the collective behavioral sciences of psychology, psychobiology, anthropology and cognitive science.
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Realizing that anthropology is part of ‘people science,’ it lined up that Jessica’s advice was mostly about what Insights organizations need to do now to prepare internally for the outcomes of the behavioral sciences. In other words, Jessica’s advice is to first seek to understand then to be understood which of course is one of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but likely was first the Prayer of Saint Francis per Wikipedia and some of your more holy friends. It also is precisely what Loren suggested, “the only way you can understand and articulate another culture is to make sure you understand your own and how you operate in it.”
The title of Jessica’s Future of Consumer Behavior session is Applying People Science To Grow Your Business. In it, Jessica notes that despite, “‘people science’ promising a rich source of insights and causal understanding, insights organizations are a decade behind on myriad initiatives.”
When asked why that might be, Jessica noted that “‘people science’ can be easily overwhelming.” And that of course makes perfect sense. When an insights organization is tasked with not only understanding but applying a behavioral science approach, it means the application of not one but four sciences.
That’s of course beyond the simple problems we all must overcome in that, “we’re too comfortable with what we know, and that we’ve lost a bit of curiosity” about behavior of our fellow humans.
Jessica suggests that “a mindset shift is mandatory,” and it also might make sense for insights organizations to add talent with behavioral science bona fides. Or perhaps source that expertise. Or at the very least, “be curious and focus on the art of observation.”
But that will only work if you’ve accomplished self-realization, comprehend the goals of the greater business and know what the insights organization is actually trying to accomplish. If those mysteries remain unsolved, the art of observation won’t matter as you won’t grasp what you’re seeing.