Some thoughts on insight, how to generate it and how to use it to drive great thinking.

1. Leading with Insight Matthew Milan, Critical Mass

2. 1.Insight 2.Being Insightful 3.Leading With Insight

4. “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them…” Steve Jobs

5. people don’t know what they want…

6. “ Recognizing the need is the primary condition of design" Charles Eames

7. Recognizing the need

8. “Design works if it’s authentic, inspired, and has a clear point of view. It can’t be a collection of input” Ron Johnson

9. clear point of view

10. It can’t be a collection of input…

11. Why is insight important?

12. Insight occurs when people recognize relationships or make associations between objects and actions that can help them solve new problems . Britannica

13. Recognize relationships

14. Insight is the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or seeing intuitively . Websters

15. Apprehending the inner nature

16. Recognizable Truths … that help you understand the real nature of problems.

17. 2. Being Insightful

18. To be insightful, you must embrace the following…

19. 1: You must ask thoughtful questions

20. 2: You need to look beyond the obvious

21. 3: You shouldn’t be afraid to reframe the problem

22. 4: You must learn to trust your gut

23. Who did I learn this from? Richard Feynman

24. Who did I learn this from?  Richard Feynman

25. Who?

26. COLUMBO

27. That’s right… Columbo taught me everything I need to know about being insightful.

28. Back to Feynman for a minute…

29. Karl Popper - 1968 The “Wizard Merlin” Perspective of Insight

30. “ A magician of the highest caliber” Wizard Merlin

31. Michael Posner - 1973 The “Prepared Mind” Perspective of Insight

32. “ I know I've been a pest. I'm just trying to do my job.” The Prepared Mind

33. No Magic Prepare Incubate Illuminate Verify The Art of Thought - Wallas, 1926

34. The prepared mind has a repeatable process

35. The prepared mind is always running its process

36. The prepared mind is always asking questions

37. One more thing…

38. The prepared mind looks beyond what is obvious

39. You know what I don’t understand…

40. The prepared mind isn’t afraid to reframe

41. There are a couple of loose ends I’d like to tie up. Nothing important you understand…

42. The prepared mind trusts their gut

43. It’s just one of those things that gets in my head and keeps rolling around in there like a marble…

44. What’s really going on here?

45. Columbo is: Treating insight as a consequence, rather then a cause in problem solving Understanding the underlying structure of the problem and restructuring the problem to avoid functional fixedness Applying procedural similarity to take advantage of representative transfer Waiting patiently for “suddenness of solution”

46. 3. Leading With Insight

47. What does leading with insight mean for your business?

48. A pair of stories about research, culture and results.

49. Validation vs Inquiry

50. A culture of validation: $200K+ OF DISCOVERY RESEARCH 100 FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS 25 INDEPTH INTERVIEWS 10 ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY SUBJECTS 5 PERSONAS = 0 UNIQUE INSIGHTS

51. A culture of inquiry: $1300 TO RENT A VAN AND A CAMERA 5 LOCATIONS 4 HYPOTHESIS 3 GUT CHECKS 1 SEVEN MINUTE FILM = 2 UNIQUE INSIGHTS

52. The Moral

53. Lots of research is a waste of time and money.

54. Lots of research is a waste of time and money. 

55. Don’t use research to tell you what you already know…use it to tell you what you don’t know .

56. Don’t use research to tell you what you already know…use it to tell you what you don’t know . 

57. So What?

58. Insights help uncover and reframe the true nature of a problem

59. Insights help businesses identify and target positions of differentiation.

60. How do I do this?

61. Iteratively Reframe To Uncover the True Nature of the Problem

62. Iteratively Reframe To Uncover the True Nature of the Problem

63. Insight should be a key driver of your business thinking. Here’s why:

64. Good insight (and good research) helps you to know what your customers need… before they know themselves…

65. Leading with insight means that you can create “the need”. True Differentiation Real Innovation Tangible Results

66. Insight is a state of mind

67. And a way of doing business [email_address]