One of the most important things to remember when talking about anthropology is that it is about us, humans – literally. It covers who we are, what we do, how we behave – and that is exactly what business does too.
When I first started this consulting business, I had to repeatedly explain to people what it is that anthropology is and what I can do for them.
Fast forward to now and I still have to do so – possibly slightly less, but still surprisingly often.
That is partly because people seriously don’t know enough about anthropology to begin with (or what they know is chiefly Bones), and partly because people generally find it difficult to relate what they are doing to what others are doing.
Consider this – when you do business, do you use the tried and tested methods and channels, or do you try to innovate?
A surprising amount of people does the former – even when it actually isn’t helpful and it harms their business, even their own career.
Anthropology is all about behaviour. And so is business, and under business, I mean all sorts. As I have written elsewhere, there is a surprising lack of difference between a heritage project and an AI project – and many others – because both ultimately deal with who we are as people, our perceptions and fears.
Apart from the larger scale, anthropology is an amazing tool when it comes to looking at how we as people interact at the work place itself. Hazing, tokenism, intercultural clashes…are all a part of the same sphere, and the domain of anthropology.
So to quickly sum up – yes. Anthropology can work cross discipline, cross business, cross problems. The only question is what it can do for you personally.