Pragmatic is a philosophy that views knowledge as a tool that can be used to make purposeful differences in the world. It is an approach that emphasizes cause and effect and recognizes that people have different experiences, thus impacting the results of their actions. Pragmatism is based on practical experience rather than abstract theory, and it can be applied to any problem-solving situation.
The pragmatist movement began with a group of Harvard-educated men known as “The Metaphysical Club.” Members included proto-positivist Chauncey Wright and future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. They were joined later by Charles Sanders Peirce, a logical scientist and mathematician; William James, a psychologist and moralist armed with medical training; and John Dewey, an American philosopher who emphasized education and the power of experience.
A pragmatic person is realistic in that they know some things are outside their control, but they are also willing to take action and manufacture positive outcomes in any given situation. This makes them an ideal leader for teams working in a fast-paced environment, such as the technology industry, where changes can happen quickly.
An IT director that embraces pragmatism can develop strategies that are focused on achieving business goals, such as improving operational efficiency or increasing customer satisfaction. This is accomplished through leveraging existing technologies and resources instead of investing in new or unproven software and hardware. This can save money and lead to a more sustainable IT infrastructure in the long term, but it does come with some risks.
For example, a rigid adherence to pragmatic development may result in missing opportunities to improve user experiences or provide a competitive advantage. Additionally, the cost savings of using established technologies can come at the expense of innovation and differentiation, leading to stagnation.
A pragmatist approach to research can be useful when researching organizational processes, as it allows for the interconnectedness of experience, knowing and acting. This can be an effective method for investigating organizational practices that are not documented in a formal way, such as emergent problems in non-government organizations. It can also help researchers surface complex themes and issues that are masked by formal documentation and rhetoric.
A pragmatist research approach can be strengthened by an iterative focus on actionable knowledge, which helps to maintain the connectivity between research and respondent experiences throughout the inquiry process. This can facilitate the identification of the effects or meanings of social action in a particular context and ensure that research has tangible application. Morgan (2014a) suggests that this approach strengthens each stage of the research process, from the development of a research agenda to data collection, analysis and dissemination.
