About

— Dave's Research Co. was founded in Porto, in 2020 —

In 2010 I began building research programs into forward-thinking product orgs in San Francisco. I found that, even with good research in place, the same problems arise over and over: stuck and stalled teams, inconsistent progress, or remarkably fast progress... in unhelpful directions.

Now I help leaders and their teams work through those problems. They're not technical issues, but much more human: the challenge lies in how we define and approach the work at hand. (And the right research still helps.)

Personally, I'm fascinated by the creative process and the development of skill, individually and collectively.

  • How do we make good things?
  • How does that work when groups of people are involved?
  • What does it mean to master that work as craft?
  • How do we teach and share our understanding of it?

My approach to work draws on a background of cognitive science training, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practice (currently at brown belt and training no-gi), wide-ranging reading, and the architect Christopher Alexander's approach to complexity.

I write about what I learn in Loops and Cycles and longer-form articles . Each year I hold time for a craft-sabbatical — the wine harvest or sake season, for example — and a good, long walk.

Choose your tools wisely.

Talk and Workshop Index:

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