Leading with InsightMatthew Milan, Critical Mass

1.Insight2.Being Insightful3.Leading With Insight

1. Insight.

“A lot of times, people don’t know what they

want until you show it to them…”

Steve Jobs

people don’t know what they want…

“Recognizing the need is the primary condition of

design"

Charles Eames

Recognizing the need

“Design works if it’s authentic, inspired, and

has a clear point of view. It can’t be a collection of

input”

Ron Johnson

clear point of view

It can’t be a collection of input…

Why is insight important?

Insight occurs when people recognize

relationships or make associations between

objects and actions that can help them solve new

problems.Britannica

Recognize relationships

Insight is the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or seeing

intuitively.

Websters

Apprehending the inner nature

Recognizable Truths

…that help you understand the real nature of problems.

2. Being Insightful

To be insightful, you must embrace the following…

1: You must ask thoughtful questions

2: You need to look beyond the obvious

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

4: You must learn to trust your gut

Who did I learn this from?

Richard Feynman

Who did I learn this from?

Richard Feynman

Who?

COLUMBOCOLUMBO

That’s right…

Columbo taught me everything I need to know

about being insightful.

Back to Feynman for a minute…

Karl Popper - 1968

The “Wizard Merlin” Perspective of Insight

“A magician of the highest caliber”

Wizard Merlin

Michael Posner - 1973

The “Prepared Mind” Perspective of Insight

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

The Prepared Mind

No Magic

PrepareIncubateIlluminate

Verify

The Art of Thought - Wallas, 1926

The prepared mind has a repeatable process

The prepared mind is always running its process

The prepared mind is always asking questions

One more thing…

The prepared mind looks beyond what is obvious

You know what I don’t understand…

The prepared mind isn’t afraid to reframe

There are a couple of loose ends I’d

like to tie up. Nothing important you understand…

The prepared mind trusts their gut

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

What’s really going on here?

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”

3. Leading With Insight

What does leading with insight mean for your

business?

A pair of stories about research, culture and

results.

Validation vs Inquiry

A culture of validation:

$200K+ OF DISCOVERY RESEARCH100 FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS25 INDEPTH INTERVIEWS10 ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY SUBJECTS5 PERSONAS

=0 UNIQUE INSIGHTS

A culture of inquiry:

$1300 TO RENT A VAN AND A CAMERA5 LOCATIONS4 HYPOTHESIS3 GUT CHECKS1 SEVEN MINUTE FILM

=2 UNIQUE INSIGHTS

The Moral

Lots of research is a waste of time and money.

Lots of research is a waste of time and money.

Don’t use research to tell you what you already

know…use it to tell you what you don’t know.

Don’t use research to tell you what you already

know…use it to tell you what you don’t know.

So What?

Insights help uncover and reframe the true nature

of a problem

Insights help businesses identify and target

positions of differentiation.

How do I do this?

Iteratively Reframe

To Uncover the True Nature of the Problem

Iteratively Reframe

To Uncover the True Nature of the Problem

Insight should be a key driver of your business

thinking.

Here’s why:

Good insight (and good research) helps you to

know what your customers need…

before they know themselves…

Leading with insight means that you can create

“the need”.

True Differentiation

Real Innovation

Tangible Results

Insight is a state of mind

And a way of doing business

matthewm@criticalmass.com