Gary Klein’s Seeing What Other’s Don’t is the topic of this week’s book review, in which he explores the fascinating topic of insight – where do insights come from, and how can we encourage more of them?

1. GET BOOK SMART
Seeing What Others
Don’t, by Gary Klein

2. G E T B O O K S M A R T
Seeing What Others Don’t, by Gary Klein
The inspiration for Gary Klein’s book was a stack of news stories he had collected; stories
of people having realisations and using them to do incredible things. One story was about
a police officer who deduced a car was stolen when he saw the thief flick cigarette ash
onto the brand new upholstery; another about how Aron Ralston of 127 Hours used the
weight of the boulder he was trapped by to snap the arm bone that was keeping him
there. Klein decided to find a formula that could categorize and explain all these moments
of insight, and in doing so help us to make more of our own.
A commonly used word in the business and strategy world, “insight” can mean anything
from pure statistics to the kind of intuition that can come into being without any
imperative proof. For Klein - a cognitive psychologist famed for studying how people
make decisions in real-life scenarios - the concept is something very much in-between
these two. Insights are ideas precipitated by years of knowledge and experience and
facilitated by favourable – though often unexpected - scenarios. In other words, they can
be helped along, but you never really know where they are going to come from, and
when.
“Intuition is the use of patterns… already learned, whereas
insight is the discovery of new patterns.”
I N S I G H T I N T O I N S I G H T S
Klein argues that insights come from one of three very different sources: contradictions,
connections and creative desperation. Contradiction insights occur in scenarios where
things that don’t seem to add up or make sense are used to figure out why certain
elements don’t make sense, and what it means. An example of this was those who
predicted the economic crash in 2008 through the realisation that the housing market
couldn’t continue sustain its current rate of growth.
Connection insights function in almost the opposite way, happening in cases where
people spot an unexpected link or correlation between elements and use it to draw
enlightening conclusions. For example, Darwin creating the tree of life from his knowledge
of the similarities between seemingly separate species.
Insights spurred by creative desperation occur in moments of panic and heightened
necessity. Klein demonstrated this using the example of the finance manager of a research
company, who needed employees to fill in their timesheets as she feared an audit.

3. G E T B O O K S M A R T
Seeing What Others Don’t, by Gary Klein
Mandates hadn’t been successful, and under pressure, the manager came up with the idea
of offering chocolate for timesheets submitted on time. Incentives, not pressure, turned
out to be the answer to her problem.
H O W T O E N C O U R A G E I N S I G H T S
Klein used the information collated in this study to create an equation for improving the
performance of an organisation. He believes improved performance is the result of a
reduction in errors and uncertainty, plus an increase in the number of insights.
However, he says that organisations often tend to weight the model towards error-
reduction, which, in turn, can get in the way of insights and progress. “Organisations can
stifle insights by filtering them out.” It is imperative, he argues, to “[dial] back the war on
error” because reducing errors alone does not lead to advances in understanding. The
problem is not just having insights, but instilling a model or creating an environment in
which they can take effect and create positive change. Therefore, we should focus just as
much on fostering and implementing insights and new ideas as we do on eradicating
errors.
One of the strongest impressions created by Klein’s book is that moments of insight are
much more common than we might think, and that every day insights are often no less
fruitful relatively than large-scale ones, as they feed our insight skills generally. Insights
are just as much about small-scale problem solving and outside of the box thinking as
they are about that one eureka moment.
W H Y R E A D T H I S B O O K ?
“I don’t want to diminish the sense of awe we feel when we
encounter an insight, whether it be our own or somebody
else’s. At these times, something magical has happened.”
Klein’s book goes a long way to de-mystifying the seemingly genius-driven and
unattainable process that sparks insights. The examples he employs, ranging from the
simple – for instance, the new drop-off and collect arrangement he devises with his car
mechanic - to the discovery of the double helix, instruct the reader on how to employ an
insight-driven mindset in daily life. However, Klein also demonstrates the magic of insights
and what they can do for us.

4. G E T B O O K S M A R T
Seeing What Others Don’t, by Gary Klein
Thus, the book is inspiring in both an abstract and concrete way. The key arguments are
clear and well explained, and the stories are both fascinating and compelling. It is a
reminder that we could all do with a bit more insight, and a bit more magic.
If you are interested in learning more about the subject of this article, please contact
Sarah Emmerson, Insights Planner, emmersons@bbdoknows.com.
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