“Research That Scales” by Kate Towsey: The Seminal, Game-Changing Guide to ResearchOps

Setting up a new research function can feel overwhelming. This enormous task is now easier because Kate Towsey has, quite literally, just written the book on it.

Research That Scales (published September 2023 by Rosenfeld Media) provides a thought-provoking, structured path to building and scaling ResearchOps. Full of real-world examples, it certainly deserves the descriptor of “handbook:” Chapters 1–4 provide a rich foundational understanding, and Chapters 5–12 detail the eight elements of ResearchOps. But this book is far more than a step-by-step guide. Here are three examples:

First, Kate grounds her premise in clear definitions. Any book that begins by defining and not simply throwing out buzzwords has got my attention. Kate makes sure we’re aligned on the weighty concepts of “scale” and “strategy,” in service to the goal of operational maturity. The first chapters situate the task in a broader context, which culminates in the introduction of The ResearchOps Planning Matrix, “a 10,000 foot view of what you’ll need to do to deliver operations that are sustainable and, therefore, scalable.”

Second, Kate takes a stand on a controversial topic in the research field: How do we measure impact? There’s a popular view that we can base research impact…