For the last decade the consensus amongst innovators seems to have been that fresh insights are the foundation-stones of every successful innovation programme
However, we've been sensing a growing dissatisfaction with this view over the last few months …
Potential clients frequently already have more than enough paper-insights, but increasingly feel frustration that these aren't stimulating the breakthrough ideas they need. A couple have even talked about moving away from the insight-driven approach in favour of a more instinct-driven, more entrepreneurial, big-bets approach!
This feels like a fundamental misreading of the evidence …
Great innovation undoubtedly needs inciive & dynamic insights – but to deliver game-changing solutions – it also needs empathy!
If innovators lack a deep, intuitive connection with their consumers – who they are, what they do, what they aspire to, how they feel and what compromises they're forced to make – how are they ever going to be inspired to generate the brilliant, disruptive solutions with relevance to real-people?
By utilising empathy-empowerment tools like In-Home Safaris, Online Ethnography and Consumer-Immersion Incubators we make it possible for innovation teams to "walk in their consumers shoes" – and gain the deep-empathy they need to not only unlock incisive insights, but also make the intuitive, creative connections that lead to the generation of disruptive, yet relevant, breakthrough ideas.
The secret is to seek empathy and dynamic-insights, not just paper ones.
