There’s a persistent myth in decision-making: give people enough information and good decisions – and action – will follow.

In consumer behaviour, we’ve already moved on from this. We know awareness doesn’t equal behaviour change. People can know exactly what they should do and still not do it.

But when it comes to organisations, we still act as if more information is the answer.

It isn’t.

If anything, the opposite is happening. We’re surrounded by data. Reports get commissioned, findings get presented, and insights get shared. And then… things slow down. Some decision-makers get sidetracked. Insights are not actioned.

The real gap isn’t about knowing anymore. It’s about doing something with what we know.

That’s where research needs to evolve. It’s not enough to hand over insight and hope for the best. The job is to help organisations move – to give them not just clarity, but the energy to actually act on it.

Why information doesn’t turn into action

There’s no single reason things stall. It’s usually a mix of very human, very predictable factors.

Cognitive overload

As researchers, we like to be thorough. We want to show the full picture, demonstrate rigour, and cover every angle.

But the more we include, the harder it becomes to see what actually matters.

When everything is important, nothing stands out. And when people are faced with too much information, they don’t dig deeper—they switch off.

The knowledge – action gap

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor talks about the “knowledge–action gap.” He gives simple examples: medical experts in fields like sleep, exercise, or stress management who don’t get enough sleep, don’t exercise, and are often stressed themselves.

It’s not a knowledge problem. It’s a doing problem.

The same thing happens in organisations. People nod along to the findings. They agree. But then other priorities take over, next steps aren’t clear, and nothing really changes.

Status quo bias and inertia

Change sounds good in theory. In practice, it’s uncomfortable.

Even when the research points to a better path, sticking with what already exists feels safer. Systems, processes, habits – they all reinforce the current way of doing things.

So, unless there’s a strong reason to act, people don’t.

Insight without translation

A lot of research stops at explaining what’s going on and why.

What happens next is often left to the client, which makes sense on paper. They know their business best.

But in reality, this creates an extra step. And extra steps are where things tend to stall. What feels like a neat division of roles often just slows everything down.

Low memorability and limited reach

If people don’t remember the insight, they won’t act on it.

Dense decks and long reports are easy to forget and hard to share. And if the work doesn’t travel beyond the immediate audience, its impact stays small.

Emotionally neutral delivery

We like to think decisions are rational. They’re not.

What gets attention, what sticks, what drives action—these are all influenced by emotion. If a piece of research feels flat, it’s easy to agree with it and just as easy to park it.

Designing Research for Action: Impact Principles

At Square Holes, we’ve become less interested in delivering information and more interested in what happens after.

Does anything change? Does anything get done?

We want our work to create a real impact and the following principles guide how we do this.

1. Less is more

There’s a reason Blaise Pascal’s line still gets quoted:
“I’m sorry I wrote you a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.”

Short is hard.

It takes effort to cut through everything you could say and focus on what truly matters. Effective research makes deliberate choices about what to leave out, not just what to include.

This is not about oversimplifying complexity. It is about sharpening it to make the important things impossible to miss.

2. Tell clients what to do

There’s often hesitation here. Researchers don’t want to overstep. Clients know their world better, after all.

But stopping short of recommendations leaves a gap.

So we take a position. We put forward what we think should happen next – based on the evidence, the context, and what’s realistic. That’s where the real value starts.

3. Three is enough

Research always uncovers more than three things worth doing.

But that doesn’t mean you should list them all.

Long lists feel thorough, but they rarely lead to action. A small number of clear, prioritised actions does.

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

4. Design for attention

Before anything else, our work needs to capture attention.

That’s not just about writing—it’s about how it looks and how it flows. Strong visuals, clear structure, moments that make people stop and think.

A single chart or quote can sometimes do more than ten slides of explanation.

5. Make it easy to share

Most research doesn’t get used in its original form.

It gets copied into decks, forwarded in emails, talked about in meetings. If it’s hard to lift or reuse, it won’t travel far.

So we design with that in mind—simple slides, clear messages, things people can easily pass on.

6. Don’t forget the human side

Data matters. But it’s not what makes people act.

Stories, quotes, real experiences—these are the things that make insights feel real. They create urgency. They give people a reason to care.

7. Stay involved

The moment the report is delivered isn’t the end – it’s usually the point where things either move or stall.

Workshops, follow-ups, working sessions – this is where insights start turning into decisions, and decisions into action.

So what is the role of research now?

In a world where information is everywhere, its value has changed.

It’s no longer about how much you can uncover. It’s about whether anything happens because of it.

The best research doesn’t just inform. It gets used. It shapes decisions. It leads to action.

And that means the role of research agencies has to shift – from delivering information to helping make things happen.