Methodology

Soft Labor values strong research, careful listening, and gut feelings—and we’re especially excited when data aligns with our intuitions.

We operate from a place of "tactical realism" wherein we seek to define the hard contours of a given situation—not what we or our clients simply wish were happening—and respond accordingly. We invest in getting to know people and problems up front as a means of building context around a project before devising creative strategies and actionable solutions.

We most closely identify with participant-observation and experiential immersion as a form of research—or "deep hanging out," to borrow the late-90s parlance of American anthropologist Clifford Geertz. We hit the books hard in school, but we’ve learned even more empirically in the world. For us, every day is a new seminar. We don’t waste time in the field.