@marketingmag
THE TRUTH ISSUEinterpretation and compels action.
For example, just like Instagram
showed that Kodak should have been
in the business of memories, Uber
also insightfully disrupted the auto
industry from selling vehicles to now
consider selling mobility. The insight?
That it’s ‘impossible to fi nd a cab on a
rainy, busy day in Times Square’.
That doesn’t mean you have
won the lottery. Insights can get you
to a lonely place, which is why it is
a must to bring others along your
‘thought journey’ to help think about
the unthinkable and act on it. On top
of that, it is important to combine
introspection with outrospection.
Or, once the digging has hit the
bottom of an investigation, it
becomes a matter of looking up
and contextualising your pixel in the
bigger picture.
Tasha Eurich, author of the book
Insight: Why We’re Not as Self-
Aware as We Think, conducted
research that revealed 95 percent
of people around the world believe
they are self-aware, but only about
10 to 15 percent really are. “We are
living in a society that’s increasingly
becoming more self-absorbed and
less self-aware,” said Eurich on an
episode of HBR’s Ideacast. This is a
true insight about insight-gathering,
where the truth can only emerge
when those digging for it are able
to be removed from their own
behavioural biases.
To optimise the insight-digging
process and avoid it from getting lost
across communication lines and ego
trips, with Dr Jared Cooney Horvath
(a Harvard trained neuroscientist
specialised in the science of
learning), I recently co-created
a method that overcorrects the
traditional insight-digging process.
We branded it ‘Waking Walks’. This
approach requires the project team,
not just the loner strategist, to go onmovement in the body often drives
diffuse thinking allowing for more
disparate knowledge linkage and
more insight thinking.- Diverse debate
People intuitively know that a
pack can drive insight better than
a lone wolf – this is largely due to
the clash in opinions, stories and
thinking strategies that comes when
many people tackle one issue.
Unfortunately, not all group work
is created equal. Highly structured
brainstorming sessions that occur
in the same boardroom every week
often drive predictable and repetitive
thinking patterns. Interestingly,
sessions that occur in unpredictable
and ever-changing locations
(like street walking) consisting of
cross-disciplinary teams will often
drive innovative and unique
thinking patterns.Waking Walks blends people from
disparate companies or disciplines
partaking in structured discussions
concerning challenges their
businesses face – all while strolling
through parks and urban landmarks,
ensuring people get out of their
corporate and mental boxes. As
Tolkien once said: “Not all those who
wander are lost.” They are seeking
the truth and may just fi nd it. All it
takes is the fi rst step.a walk that will wake them from lies,
bringing all involved closer to a truth.
Why it works? Three reasons:- Diffuse thinking
Too often, when we become highly
obsessed with a particular problem
or question, we devote a large
amount of explicit and focused
‘cognitive effort’ to solving that issue.
Interestingly, spending prolonged
periods of conscious effort trying to
derive a particular solution has been
demonstrated to actually hinder
insight thinking, stifl e creativity and
prolong the time needed to develop
a meaningful answer. Rather than
focused thought, most insights
arrive during periods of diffuse
thought. Interspersing short periods
of rigorous effort with periods of
off-topic thinking allows for the brain
to consolidate new knowledge and
link it to old, seemingly unrelated
knowledge. This subconscious
process of linking is the breeding
ground of insight and creativity.
Instead of spending hours in
front of a screen, nerding out on
research and hoping that a warm
bath will prompt an Eureka moment,
Waking Walks consolidates all that
in just 90 minutes. - Physical movement
Again, when trying to decode or
interpret a set of data, it is common
practice to tie oneself down to a
desk until the answer is derived.
Interestingly, physical restriction
has been shown to narrow thinking
and lead to simple, highly contrived
solutions. In fact, every 20 minutes
spent sitting makes us slightly
more stupid, so don’t be lazy when
the bell rings. Get up and answer
the door, you’ll feel smarter. For
insight to occur, people must be
allowed to move freely. Walking,
jogging, kicking a football –
Every 20
minutes spent
sitting makes
us slightly
more stupid.
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