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Insights are not what you think they are
The truth about research insights.
As a researcher, analyst, data scientist, or other knowledge worker, one of the worst questions you can get about your work is “What is the insight here?”
It’s like if you were a figure skater, and after performing your whole routine in front of a panel of 9 judges, you turn and their scorecards spell out “Is that it?”
That’s the sentiment of an audience that doesn’t feel like they have any new wisdom about the topic after hearing your research. They walk away wondering “Why did I listen to that?”
They think it was a waste of time, and you feel like you failed at your job.
The worst part? There’s some truth to it.
Your hard work wasn’t appreciated or valued by your stakeholders, meaning you look a little worse and your work probably isn’t going to have the impact you wanted it to have.
So what’s the fix? How do you make sure you have insights?
To start, you have to understand what people mean when they ask for insights. And that’s problematic because…
Everybody thinks insights are something different
One of the biggest issues with getting comments like “I didn’t get the insight” is that the word “insight” doesn’t have a standard meaning in an organizational context, which I’ve written about in more detail here.
Asking people what they mean by “insight” is not always effective because a lot of times, people can’t articulate what they are looking for.
It’s as if you cooked a meal for someone and they said “It’s not bad, but it’s missing something,” or “I wasn’t inspired…”
Asking for the missing ingredient might lead you in the wrong direction; they might not be a foodie, and even if they were, a food connoisseur is not the same as a chef (which is you, in this scenario).
In any case, here are some of the main reasons people ask for insights:
