Episode 9: Insight investigations
In this 15-minute episode James looks at how great Insight teams investigate business issues. In episode 7 of our podcast, we looked at the importance of nailing the real business issue before launching new pieces of analysis or research.
What happens next in an Insight project will depend on the question you have identified and the sources of information and data collection available to you. However, effective Insight teams tend to adopt a common mindset regardless of whether they are data analysts or market researchers. It’s the mindset of the detective.
Topics Discussed
- The importance of hypotheses? (1.54)
- Joining up across multiple sources (4.32)
- The requirement to form opinions (7.27)
- Technical skills are critical but not transformative (9.34)
- The iterative nature of Insight investigations (11.24)
Highlights
- “Insight teams tend to adopt a common mindset regardless of whether they are data analysts or market researchers. It’s the mindset of the detective.”
- “We need to spend as long trying to disprove our hypotheses as we do trying to validate them. But we are still better off starting with hypotheses and adapting them to the data as we go along than starting with a blank sheet of paper and hoping for a Eureka! moment.”
- “There is a classic trade-off between wanting to drill into more and more of the detail supported by our favourite data source and remembering that Insight projects have to address the overall business issue.”
- “Technical skills are really important for Insight teams, and developing great analytic skills or keeping up with the latest research methodologies is a requirement for all Insight teams. But it’s a hygiene requirement; in itself it’s not going to transform the performance of your Insight team, that happens when we change our mindset and reframe the way we define our roles.”
This is episode 9 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. Over the last five years, over 20,000 Insight professionals worldwide have received his 5 Minute Insight emails.
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 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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