Where the research becomes practice, and the practice becomes tools
Granite & Current's advisory work is grounded in behavioral science, including the more deeply personal work within coaching. This page is the “scratchpad” for that grounding - summarizing original research, synthesizing evidence, and experimenting with ideas. Beyond writing, we hope to translate compelling findings into tools and programs, where the evidence warrants it, to have real impact on people and organizations.
Current areas of exploration include the three threads below.
Women's Advancement in Finance & Private Equity — Synthesizing the empirical evidence on what actually closes the gender gap in financial services and private equity, and what does not. What may be generalizable to other sectors. Will be sharing thoughts on both well-known and under-appreciated mechanisms as well as promising solutions (spoiler alert: they tend to be at the systems level) in field notes.
Managing Self and Others Through AI-Driven Change — What the evidence shows about leadership capability, organizational design, and workforce structure as AI reshapes the work itself. And what are the implications for us as individuals, in terms of self-worth, anxiety, inspiration, our thoughts and feelings about the future?
Cross-Border Leadership (US-France) — Where American and French cultural differences do and do not impact professional and management norms; implications of American management theory/practice hegemony; how should individuals and companies operating across both navigate these waters?
2025
From Research to Tools
Some findings are strong enough, and specific enough, to become more than an article. The intended process: a finding is synthesized from primary research, mapped to a concrete tool or program concept, piloted with a client willing to test it, and refined before it goes any further. Most ideas stop at the synthesis stage. A few do not.
Concepts currently in development:
A sponsorship and advocacy tool, built on the research distinguishing sponsorship from mentorship: a structured way for senior leaders to track and act on concrete advocacy for the people they sponsor, rather than relying on good intentions alone.
A structured-evaluation module for performance reviews, aimed at the specific, well-documented ways unstructured, one-person-at-a-time evaluation lets bias in: concrete, pre-defined criteria and multi-person evaluation for each competency or deliverable to reduce impressionistic judgment and bias.
A coaching-companion concept, extending the research base underneath this practice's coaching work into something a client could use between sessions. This may also be about identifying the best tools out there already, as it’s a crowded field.
None of these are finished products. If one of them overlaps with a problem you are already solving, please reach out.