Episode 89: Start with your organisation
It's Episode 89, our first of Season 13, and I have a special guest on today’s episode: Laura Barber, Insight Consultant & Founder of The Ripple Impact. With twenty years of Insight roles spanning General Mills, Coca-Cola, Boots, and PepsiCo, and a career that began before the word "Insights" was widely used in organisations, Laura Barber has seen the field transform in almost every imaginable way. Now running her own consultancy and podcast, The Ripple Impact, Laura helps brand leaders and founders sharpen their storytelling and strengthen their influence.
Laura shares the core principles that have guided her approach throughout her career:
- Understanding the unique context and needs of each organisation before reaching for new data;
- Tapping into the wealth of knowledge that already exists within a business;
- Always, always stepping into the shoes of the consumer
- Get to know your stakeholders
These might sound like fundamentals, but as Laura makes clear, they're the principles most easily lost under the pressure of deadlines and data.
We also talk about AI, where Laura has a balanced view: she believes it opens up exciting possibilities for speed and efficiency, but she's clear-eyed about the risk of leaning too heavily on technology at the expense of the distinctly human skills – the sense-making, strategic thinking and storytelling that defines truly impactful Insight work.
There's also a thread running through this episode about agility: what large organisations can learn from the entrepreneurial mindset, and why adaptability may be the most underrated skill in the Insight professional's toolkit.
Please listen to find out more!
Topics Discussed
- The Shift from Researchers to Insight Activists (2.34)
- Stakeholder Expectations and Misunderstandings(6.45)
- Competence Issues in Forming Opinions (10.46)
- The Shift in Skillset: From Technical to Business Understanding (16.03)
- The Value of Structured Tools in Insight Work (18.12)
- Encouraging Conversations and Safe Spaces for Opinions (22.49)
This is episode 89 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, and the 9Ps of The Insight Leader’s Playbook, 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 Bank from 2005 to 2015 when he became Chief Executive of the Insight Management Academy (IMA).
He published his first book, Transforming Insight, in 2020, and his second, The Insight Leader’s Playbook, in 2025, and he hosts the Insight forums and the Transforming Insight podcast.
An entertaining keynote speaker, he has presented over 50 times at Quirk’s events, a global record, and has provided thought leadership in the UK, USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, India and the Middle East.
The Insight Management Academy is the world’s leading authority on transforming corporate Insight teams, and its vision is to inspire and support every Insight leader to transform the impact of Insight in their organisation.
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
Disclaimer
The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.
