In Conversation with... Simon Roberts

In the seventh episode of our “In Conversation…” podcast series for 2024, Lucy speaks to Simon Roberts, anthropologist, author and co-founder of Stripe Partners, a consultancy firm which incorporates social and data science to give companies a deep understanding of the world, their customers and their organisation.In this conversation, Lucy and Simon discuss anthropology and why, in a tech and data driven world, it is increasingly being used by organisations to better understand the behaviours and culture of their workforces. In particular, Simon highlights the importance of embodied knowledge and the potential impact of remote and hybrid working on the professional development of junior employees.Key Takeaways:Be aware of sub-cultures: Even where a business has defined its vision, mission and values, in practice organisations are broken down into sub-cultures which are sometimes in conflict with each other.Embodied knowledge is very important: Executives, leaders and employees should immerse themselves in real-world experiences. to enable them to build an understanding of the business based on first-hand experiences (as opposed to a second-hand understanding obtained from data and reports). Remote and hybrid working may inhibit embodied knowledge: The challenge for junior employees is that by not being in the office with their more experienced co-workers, they are missing out on observing how to run a meeting, dealing with conflict and learning how to “read the room”.Adopt AI to do “peripheral work”, not “core work”: People are more resistant to having AI help with core work (which runs to the centre of their role and their professional identity) compared to peripheral work (which tends to be more administratively burdensome).Consider training “lay anthropologists”: Develop “in-house” anthropologists and provide them with a toolkit which enables them to observe the organisational culture and then report their findings to HR leaders and senior management. Change the focus of conversations about technology: Technology conversations often revolve around productivity, cost-savings and simplification. Instead, organisations should adopt a more human-centred approach which focuses on how technology can make work more meaningful for people.