Episode 12: Cultivating Knowledge
As we plough through past projects, we may find an immediate payback - golden nuggets that are of great interest to senior decision-makers.
But if we want to produce a crop that we can harvest year after year, in other words a knowledge base that underpins all our future research and supports multiple business decisions, then we need to cultivate our insight. This requires more time and effort.
Don’t worry if that sounds complicated! We’ll describe a way of tackling it in very basic terms with 3 simple steps.
In this episode, James is joined by Emma Jones, Senior Insight Manager at the IMA, and an expert on Insight farming.
Emma provides her top tips for Insight teams who want to develop as knowledge farmers and create a knowledge-sharing culture.
Please listen to our podcast if you have the ambition to transform your Insight team!
Topics Discussed
- Compiling a greatest hits presentation (1.34)
- The heart of the knowledge cultivation process (3.10)
- The Insight farming mindset (5.25)
- Examples from successful Insight teams (8.50)
- The importance of discussing insights (11.38)
Highlights
- “Stage 1 may be as simple as listing the key findings from all the best pieces of work your Insight team has done in the last year. If you have a 1-page summary, or a killer slide, for each of these pieces, you can simply stitch them together to form a ‘greatest hits’ compilation.”
- “Another critical aspect of knowledge cultivation is conversation between Insight professionals. If you have team meetings where all you ever do is report on project progress, you are wasting a wonderful opportunity to develop knowledge and collective understanding.”
- “I’d emphasise that creating effective insight is an on-going process, with every insight project providing context for the next one. Reviewing what we know and prioritising it by relative importance can be a really effective way of building a robust and joined-up knowledge base. In turn, that places our teams in a much stronger position to influence and drive key business decisions.”
- “What I love to see Insight teams introduce is a ‘knowledge-sharing culture’ - a set of unwritten guidelines that promotes sharing knowledge, experiences and insights - all of which can be fundamental to a team’s collective knowledge, intelligence and abilities. It enables people to continue growing both personally and professionally.”
This is episode 12 of the Transforming Insight podcast.
If you have the ambition to transform your Insight team and the role it plays in your organisation, please tune in to future episodes. Not only will we explore the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams as outlined in the Transforming Insight book, we will also talk to senior corporate Insight leaders, delve into books that have inspired us, and discuss new best practice research carried out with the IMA’s corporate members.
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About James Wycherley, the author of Transforming Insight
James Wycherley was Director of Customer Insight and Analytics at Barclays from 2005 to 2015 when he became Chief Executive of the Insight Management Academy (IMA). A popular keynote speaker and acknowledged expert on Insight leadership, strategy, and communication, he is the author of the book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams, and over 35 IMA publications. He has provided thought leadership in the UK, Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, India, and the Middle East, and regularly hosts the IMA’s Insight forums - London, Manchester, UK Online and US Online.
The Insight Management Academy is the world’s leading authority on transforming Insight teams.
Resources:
If you would like more information on any of the ideas discussed in this episode of the Transforming Insight podcast, please visit www.insight-management.org
Copies of James Wycherley’s book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams can be purchased direct fromwww.transforming-insight.com
Disclaimer
The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.
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