As the late Spanish philosopher, poet, and author put it best, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. The point of research is to understand the past, to learn from it, and to apply it to whatever it is you’re doing. Weather this is to either mimic past successes, or not to repeat failure, researching is key. Without doing it prior to the task you are working on, all your hard work could end up in failure.
Research does not have to be limited to learning from the past however. For a business, research is crucial to keeping your company competitive and at the top of your fields industry. There is a reason that companies around the globe invest heavily into research. That reason is so they can keep their advantage over rival companies by offering the best product that they possibly can.
However, the main reason why research is invaluable is that you do get to learn from the past. For instance, I was involved with a new project at my internship. We were tasked with finding out about what others have done with very similar projects to ours. I went online and did research about these past projects and I was able to come across a report that showed the economic impact of the project. This was a crucial find because it helped us to figure out what the next steps were in our project, and what the possible economic benefits could be in our area after the project is completed. If no research was done, we would have no way of knowing just how important, and how much of an impact the project would have in the community.
Lastly research is crucial to finding the validity of facts, statements, or just about anything you want to know. In today’s climate of “fake news”, it’s becoming even more crucial to make sure that everything is true. By doing research on a topic you can make sure that everything that is being reported on is 100% valid and it saves you from looking like a fool if somebody finds out that you are stating false information.
While research may be viewed to some as a time-consuming process that yields no results, they simply cannot be any further from the truth. If you take the time and deeply research information about your projects, both in business or school, you will be greatly rewarded. Not only will you be exposed to a wealth of new information that can only help you later in life, you will also set yourself up in the best possible position for success.