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Original sin and insider research

Bournemouth University, UK

This article draws parallels between my experience of undertaking insider research and the original sin the biblical Adam and Eve committed when they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. I examine my motivation for undertaking research and consider how my focus shifted from my original research questions onto me and my role as both a senior executive and a researcher. I discuss my experience of the need to discover and develop my own interpretation distinct from the orthodoxy of the organization. I identify the influences that caused me to embrace the inherent conflict of being both an insider and a researcher and the consequences that ensued. Although ultimately I found I could not resolve this conflict, I have few regrets and I hope my article will do more to encourage others, rather than deter them from making a similar commitment to undertake insider research in their own organizations.

Key Words: conflict • governance • insider action research • research motives • self-awareness

Action Research, Vol. 5, No. 1, 27-39 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1476750307072874


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