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Take A New Look At Insight: Think like a..... Fisherman
This 'take a new look series' investigates how other professions can teach us some valuable lessons. This month, we take a look at what we can learn from the example of a fisherman…
Insight is only insight if someone acts on it and makes something different happen. It doesn’t matter how great the information is - if no-one uses it, it’s of no real value. In one way, that’s a bit like fishing. You may have the tastiest worm or the most realistic fly on the end of your line, but if a fish doesn’t come and take it, it isn’t of much use.
A good fisherman will spend a lot of time in preparation and planning. He will think about issues such as:
Place: Where will the fish be and what kind of fish am I looking for? Insight interpretation: Where are my key (internal) customers and who are they? Are there any other potential stakeholders I haven’t considered? Where should the information be presented? In a meeting or presentation? On a display board in the boardroom, or in a public place? In a newsletter or on the intranet?
Need: When will they be hungry? Insight interpretation: Timing is all-important.it’s no good delivering information after the decision has been made (or the fish have already gorged themselves), or trying to grab people’s attention just before Christmas or the year end, when they are distracted by other considerations. Think and plan for when the insight will have the most impact.
Attraction: What bait will make them feed? Insight interpretation: Insight needs to be both tasty and attractive. In business terms, that means it needs to be relevant and to grab your attention. So headlining is essential. It’s no good just sending a bland email with an attachment called ‘Report on customer satisfaction’. It needs a title such as: ‘One in three of our customers are struggling to use our website’.The size of the ‘bait’ can also be important: For instance, you could say that you’ve found a threat or an opportunity worth £x million (rather than using a wishy washy % figure).
Realisation: Once a fish is on the hook, how do you keep it there long enough to land it? Insight interpretation: Once your customer has ‘bitten’ (by opening your email or coming to your meeting) how do you keep their attention? Hopefully, this should be easy if the message is relevant and affects them. But think of the role of the barb on a hook. What can stop the customer from drifting away? We have two suggestions: either use a link to their own targets so that they feel they have to listen (because it could cost them if they don’t). Alternatively, try a story. Some of the best stories start with a question (or in the case of a crime novel, a murder). The point is that humans have a natural desire to solve problems - so if you can build in a mystery, or a compelling thread, people will want to stay to the end to see how it all finishes.
A classic example that brings some of these ideas together involved an insight team that wanted people to absorb general information about customers to raise their levels of understanding. But as the information wasn’t key to their jobs, they needed to find a time when they would be receptive. They concluded that the one occasion when people have time to read is on the loo. So they created a newsletter that they then put in the toilets. They called it “The Bog Standard”! Now that’s thinking like a fisherman…
