Episode 42: Optimising our position
Today’s podcast is the first in Season 6, and our first on the critical topic of Insight team positioning.
It’s a concept the IMA introduced 9 years ago, and ever since we’ve been slightly obsessed by Insight teams’ need to optimise their position in the hearts, minds and decision-making processes of their organisations.
There’s an analogy we often use when we talk about positioning, describing Insight as a lighthouse…
An Insight team looks outwards to an organisation’s customers and markets and shines a light on issues of strategic importance.
In stormy weather, it is there to pinpoint rocks upon which the organisation might founder, and competitor companies with which the company might collide.
Many Insight teams pride themselves on their ability to understand customer behaviour and its drivers. They have developed a powerful light to shine upon market issues, and they aspire to serve as a lighthouse, a beacon to guide their organisation as it navigates the market.
However, a lighthouse helps nobody if it is not in a position to be seen. Positioned inland, or hidden by cliffs, its light cannot help shipping.
Likewise, there is little point in building an Insight capability to identify issues and guide management teams along the best route if our Insight teams are not well positioned within our companies.
Effective Insight teams succeed in identifying and occupying an optimal position in the hearts, minds and decision-making processes of their wider organisation. And that’s never been more important than this year with the AI tide just starting to come in.
Please listen to find out more!
Topics Discussed
- Are you pushing water uphill? (1.27)
- Insight as a lighthouse (3.56)
- An improvement in benchmarking scores (6.17)
- Positioning Insight teams for success through 4 pathways (7.49)
- AI – a profound positioning challenge for Insight teams (10.07)
- Learning from the mistakes of big data (12.19)
This is episode 42 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.
You won’t want to miss this! So please subscribe - and thank you for listening.
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 directly from www.transforming-insight.com
Disclaimer
The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.
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