New Emotional Connections that create Future Value
The debate over insight is becoming heated, particularly at Research-Live, although I think most of the differences are semantic. Nick Johnson first proclaimed that “insight is dead”, and I agree that the word is overused. However, his (very accurate) description of research outcomes with two hour and 80 page powerpoint decks, is about data and not insight, and his plea to look beyond the immediate data is absolutely on the mark. In his response to this, Anthony Tasgal defends “insight” as the currency of consumer understanding, and argues that insight is a process and not an object, and most importantly that insight always includes a creative element, and is always actionable (and actioned). He is right to argue that insight is about replacing the 80 page deck with an action oriented debrief process.
A recent article by KindleResearch also delves into the insight story, arguing that forward looking qualitative research is more useful than backward looking quantitative research. They also argue powerfully that a focus on measurement, the basis of most market research surveys, is by definition focusing on looking back to explain the past, and not forward to predict the future. I agree with much of the article, but they are confusing research data itself with how it can and should be used to create insights which transform businesses. The issue is not whether qualitative or quantitative research are more forward thinking, but whether the researcher is forward thinking and creative in using whatever information is available to create a narrative which helps a business move forward.
Change (human or business) always requires emotional resonance and relevant context, in addition to any evidence-based argument. So here is Inspector Insight’s INSIGHT CHECKLIST:
1) An insight is NEW – it always represents a discovery of something previously unknown or unrecognised. Frequently insight comes from existing knowledge and can be perceived as something ordinary, looked at from a different perspective or a fresh mind. Any fact or data always looks different in a new context.
2) An insight has EMOTIONAL content – it resonates with people and is based on a consumer truth which helps a business connect with their customers. Emotional connection is the key to changing behaviour.
3) An insight CONNECTS data – an insight always reflects more than one piece of data. Insight professionals must always look beyond the immediate data and seek to integrate all their understanding of a business problem to find the best solution. Sometimes that might even mean rejecting the data for more compelling knowledge (even intuition) to provide the most relevant recommendation!
4) An insight looks to the FUTURE – an insight should always have predictive power, to provide a guide to how the future will look if certain actions are taken.
5) An insight has VALUE – an insight is worthless if it doesn’t have the power to create value for a business. As Doctor Disruption says, ‘innovation is more than invention’, and to paraphrase one definition in his article, “Insight is knowledge successfully applied“.
In summary, an insight is a new emotional connection which creates future value!
REFERENCES
http://www.research-live.com/features/insight-is-dead/4002803.article
http://www.research-live.com/comment/insight-–-buried-alive?/4002925.article
A very clear and helpful summary which in my opinion defines what insight is all about.
As pointed out it’s not a battle between qual and quant but, can be a fusion of both and looked at from different perspectives within a specific context.
The emotional element is often overlooked and it’s key. It must resonate. If insight does not lead to action or outcome, it’s wasted. But, how often is this opportunity lost through conventional debriefs with PPP’s and a didactic style of presentation?
We therefore, need to look at the learning needs of decision makers, to involve them in the process, to bring their experiences to the table if insight is to be of value and lead to action or outcome.
Insight is not dead, overused – yes. It just needs redefining rather than expressed as some glib phrase on a company website. The defininion here helps.