How to be Insightful

Unlocking the superpower that drives innovation

 

Sam Knowles - How to be Insightful

How do we advance? As individuals, families, and businesses? As societies, nations, and as a species? In a world where it’s said there’s nothing new under the sun, humans are remarkably resourceful at creating new things. The key to innovation is understanding, but not just by using facts, data, and casual observations. Progress demands the profound and useful understanding of a person or a thing, a situation or an issue. And profound and useful understanding that truly effects change is that most elusive of phenomena: insight.

This new workshop, How to be insightful, provides a novel and deeply practical framework that anyone can use to generate more powerful and impactful insights from the increasing volumes of data we all face every day, whatever we do. This workshop is particularly relevant – of course – for those in the insight industry, market research, and in insight roles in all sorts of organisations: businesses, charities and third-sector bodies, government departments. But because insight truly is the superpower that drives innovation, the workshop is relevant for those in innovation, R&D, new product development, and general marketing roles, too.

Learning outcomes


• A new model for insightful thinking: the STEP Prism of Insight

• How to fuel and feed your curiosity, adding fresh stimulus to the brilliant recombinatorial engine of your subconscious mind, both acutely (for today’s task) and chronically (for life)

• Why taking timeout is critical for insight development

• How to distract your conscious mind to enable your subconscious to develop insights

• How to recognise what it feels like to have insights, to capture and express them clearly

• When it’s right to share insights with colleagues, clients, and collaborators and in what form


The course explores the history, psychology, and neuroscience of insight – now clear and resolved, thanks to recent advances in the lab. It also includes snapshots of insight from global experts in many different fields – psychology and neuroscience, music and acting, forensic science and market research. It introduces delegates to the STEP Prism of Insight model and shows it how to apply this simple framework to their day-to-day roles. And it showcases an innovative Insight Spotting Framework to help understand the insights in the world’s best communications campaigns.

Testimonials

"Excellent session. Very insightful and actionable."

Glenn Gowen - ITV, July 2023

"A robust and concise learning tool."

Tanzia Nasrin - Savanta, July 2022

"Thought provoking and highly engaging, motivating me to apply it right away."

Martin Johnson - QA, July 2022