CH Robinson
The Goal
During the peak of the 2020 global pandemic, logistics companies and international ports faced major bottlenecks in their shipping operations. CH Robinson wanted to make their operations as efficient as possible. We interviewed team members, from shipping department managers to truck drivers.
We quickly found that their existing software, which was crucial to coordinating freight movements, was deeply outdated. However, they couldn’t afford downtime due to 24/7 usage. Our goal was to uncover critical inefficiencies and elevate ideas from those closest to the work.
My Role
Consultant Researcher.
Approach
Interviews
We conducted in-depth interviews with employees across roles—warehouse workers, forklift drivers, logistics coordinators—not just leadership. This shift in the “decider” role created space for raw honesty and deep insight.Remote Ideation Workshops
We ran collaborative sessions where employees contributed ideas, frustrations, and workarounds. Their level of ownership and creativity was extraordinary, and their suggestions were grounded in lived experience—far more actionable than top-down assumptions.Synthesis and Storytelling
We used a custom synthesis framework to identify patterns and high-leverage opportunities. Our synthesis method became a model for the broader consultancy team, showing how grassroots insights can fuel strategic change.
A Breakthrough Moment
One forklift driver shared a key insight about the geometry of shipping containers—a small detail with massive implications. It challenged existing leadership assumptions and opened the door to more efficient loading strategies that saved both time and cost. This was just one example of the game-changing ideas we uncovered by listening to the people actually doing the work.
The Outcome
We delivered a set of prioritized recommendations grounded in frontline expertise. Just as importantly, we helped establish a culture of corporate accountability—ensuring that employee insights didn’t just get heard, but got acted upon. The company implemented mechanisms to continuously gather and respond to employee feedback, turning day-to-day work into a source of ongoing product strategy.