When is Getting it Right better than Getting to Yes?

The short answer is ‘always.’ It has been a question that I ask of myself before starting any research project because the answer is ‘right’ if it is fundamentally based on seeking the truth. And getting to the truth requires a willingness to be open to answers other than yes. So how do you get to the right answer?

Start with a question

A curious or inquisitive frame of mind is a great place to begin. When you don’t start with a clear hypothesis before you define a research study or product development process, you’ll find the answer you are looking for, not the answer you need. When you develop the question you really want to answer (does it work, will the audience use it, is it safe or harmful, is it cost-effective?), it requires that your next steps are in service to answering a clearly defined question.

Start with the right question

When developing a question or hypothesis, consider what you really need to understand, not the outcome that is easiest, most sellable, or gets to a yes. The effort, energy and resources put into a research study or a product should expect that the outcome has value not just for checking a box, but for your participant, patient, or customer. No softballs! Ask the hard questions to get to the real answers.

Have an evaluation strategy

Once you have a clearly defined question, the very next step should be to develop a research protocol or product development plan. This doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly complex or expensive, it just needs to be clear. Documenting how you will answer your question ensures that stakeholders and team members are working with the same expectations. Having an evaluation strategy sets standards and guidelines to avoid deviating into territory that is easier or faster. It creates reliability in the data so that your outcomes can be trusted, and the explanation of those outcomes are based on evidence. A clear evaluation strategy also helps you identify areas of uncertainty so you can work toward clarity, rather than guessing or assuming.

Seek other perspectives

We often look for a lost key under a streetlamp. If we only ever search for answers where there is light, we fail to consider the answers to questions we have not yet been able to see. Being human centered means considering that everyone in the room has a perspective, and it is a perspective you likely haven’t thought about. We should not be talking just to ourselves and others like us. Listening broadly means that culture, age, mindset, and lived experiences can help you see flaws in your design early. This creates an opportunity to adjust while the project is still nimble, before changes cost project resources, money, recruitment challenges, uninformative results, or product launch timeline.

Consider your audience. 

Healthcare research often fails to consider the right stakeholders. These are not just the costliest or the most available, or the ones who say yes when asked to participate. We can learn a tremendous amount from the hardest to reach, the ones who say no, or the ones who are under the radar. Why do they say no? Why are they reluctant to participate? Why are they difficult to access? These are the groups that will be most honest about failures, and those are the areas where you have the most opportunity to create success. If you only ask those who are eager or willing to participate, you will be more likely to get to the yes, rather than the truth. The problem is that you may have missed something important for a significant part of your potential audience — because you didn’t ask.

Diversity is not about the ‘other’. 

We tend to focus on defining or ‘doing’ diversity as a checkbox or requirement…but diversity is not about how to categorize people. A great reminder of this is the demographic profile of the post-millennial generations. Nearly half of the post-millennial generations are non-white, and this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of diversity. Diversity is not the ‘other’ — it is who we are. It is the normal representation of our population across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, culture and a range of other demographics. Recognizing diversity as part of who we are requires our research methods to honestly reflect the reality of, not assumptions about, our audience.

Innovation is not always about something new. 

There is often a desire for the newest, latest, most cutting edge technologies when it comes to research or product design. The latest technology can also be inaccessible to a large swath of the population. It can be more efficient, effective, and productive to see the newness in what is the same, constant or familiar. There are already many apps trying to solve similar problems in similar formats. Consider ways to improve or integrate existing products, deliver more valuable information, or simplify user experiences to improve outcomes. Let the excitement of solving a real world problem be your guide rather than fascination with a new technology.

Better to get it right than to get to a Yes. 

Working to “get it done”, or to get an answer that checks a box toward a goal, often ignores the very things necessary to get it right. Taking the time and thought necessary to ask the right question, to detail how you will get there, and to consider a broad range of perspectives means that you might shift direction or learn something unexpected. But this is where true innovation happens; this is where you bring value to your audience, deliver on your brand promise, conduct informative research, and act with integrity.