Everyone is a pollster today. But discerning what people believe, think, know, feel, and say they will do often requires more than a one-off formulaic survey. Humans are a complicated species. We dig much deeper to truly understand people, especially the underlying values that shape opinions and behavior.

To help clients understand how to successfully engage stakeholders, we first sharpen the purpose for engagement, then define the problem or opportunity, and then move forward to build survey instruments, design and sequence questions of various types, and present analytic findings and actionable recommendations.

For a global company managing its reputation and ensuring ongoing license to operate; for a quickly growing and award-winning public charter school in Washington, DC; and for a benefit corporation refreshing its brand and overhauling its digital presence, our research findings provided critical guidance for effective stakeholder engagement. For another client, we enabled leaders with limited budgets to understand the root causes of internal challenges, a critical launch point for a major culture change initiative.