I agree with Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel Rasmussen: “There is a set of assumptions about human behavior that drives most of our current understanding in today’s business culture. We don’t talk about these assumptions. Most of us aren’t even aware of them…These assumptions serve us well for some business challenges but not for all of them. And certainly not for the ones that involve shifts in customer behavior. The reason for this is simple: the business culture is using the wrong model of human behavior. It is getting people wrong.”

More specifically, “The current understanding of human behavior in business is predicated on a simple model that sees people as predictable, rational decision makers able to optimize a set of predefined preferences…At the core of modern business culture lies the assumption that human beings are best understood by analyzing their brains and the thinking processes that go on there.” Presumably they refer to use of fMRI technologies. “The vast majority of our lives — of our so-called choices — exist below the threshold of our awareness.”

Madsbjerg and Rasmussen recommend a problem-solving method they call “sensemaking.” It consists of five phases:

1. Frame the problem as a phenomenon: Anchor it in human experience (e.g. needs, fears, hopes)
2. Collect the data: Select sources from which the most valuable do’s and don’ts will be obtained
3. Look for patterns: Identify larger themes, using a process called formal indication
4. Create the key insights: Which key insights do the patterns reveal? What about anomalies?
5. Build the business impact: Ensure that value-creation initiatives that are wholly consist with core values

“The whole point of designing the sensemaking method as an organization conversation is to ensure that there is room for critique and critical thinking…Therefore, it is important that you build an advisory team around you to challenge your own thinking. Three roles are important in a leader’s brain trust: Reconfigurators [who spot new opportunities and inspire the organization with fresh ideas], Articulators [who translate new thinking into practical, everyday language and activities], and Conservators [who focus on maintaining operations].” These advisors help the sensemaker to avoid one-dimensional thinking. “This makes it far less risky to engage in a companywide effort of navigating out of a fog.”

I highly recommend their book, The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Business Problems, published by Harvard Business Review Press (February 2014).