Metaphors for understanding Rapid Insight 

Posted by: NHS Horizons - Posted on:

By Laura Yearsley, Associate Director of Insights at NHS Horizons and creator of Rapid Insight (CC)

Over the last few years, it seems like everyone is talking about insight. It has become a buzzword. But what does it mean to have an insight? As part of our new blog series, we will explore what NHS Horizons is learning in developing our approach to Rapid Insight, and how it can be applied in practice. This post unpacks what we mean by insight within the context of large scale change, what an insight is not, and offers several metaphors in the form of a sketch note with explanatory narrative, to help explore the key ingredients that combine to form Rapid Insight (CC).

Defining Rapid Insight  

We each have insights every day. However, what does it mean to have an insight? What definitions exist to help us explore insights more deeply?  

There are many different, sometimes competing definitions, of what insight means (see below).  

What unites these statements is a shared sense that insights help to deepen our reflections or understanding of an issue. Gary Klein goes further, offering up insight as something we do, that is both practical and active and results in something new: “insights shift us towards a new story, a new set of beliefs that are more accurate, more comprehensive and useful. Our insights transform us…” 1 

The truth is, insights are so contextual, it’s hard to define what they are. It becomes more fruitful instead, to focus on how they are generated, and how they are to be used. This is important because it is not enough to have an insight; we need to be able to translate insights into action. This involves collaborating to make sense of what we are seeing and/or hearing, whilst at the same time, giving thought to how we curate, share and act on our insights.  

Rapid insight therefore becomes both an approach and product; the approach is a repeatable and scalable method that turns different types of data into actionable intelligence, and the product, is something we have generated and created together which can be used as a springboard for what happens next.  

What an insight is not 

Insight is not data. Data can take many forms – it could be an idea on a sticky note, a post on social media, a collection of facts or statistics. Whatever form the data takes, we must remember that data is just data. The data by itself won’t tell us what to do, and nor will a list of themes. To get to an insight, we must use the data as the starting point for a voyage of discovery in which we work together to find, extract, interpret and imagine. 

Insight is not an observation or statement. A sentence doesn’t have meaning on its own. We can only make sense of it, and draw wider inferences from it, if we can see the sentence as part of a broader narrative, context or system. Only then can we move towards something more meaningful and actionable. We need to understand what people mean, not just what they say. 

Insight is not something we put in a drawer. What we do with insights is as important as the insights themselves. For insights to be impactful, they need to be used, which means they also need to be practical. Creating them with others, ensures they resonate and are shared. Even better still if we can curate them for different audiences. Why is this?  We need to be able to “do something” with the insights, if they’re to make a difference in how we view an issue or inform what and how we make progress.  

Context – and how we bring ourselves to the process of insight generation – is everything when it comes to drawing out meaningful and actionable insights. It becomes easier to define insight when we consider how insights are generated and what insights are for.  

11 metaphors for understanding Rapid Insight  

Below is a sketch note we developed to describe the key elements that combine to make great insights. We explore each of these metaphors in more detail below. 

Good insight work is…

 

Going beyond the data. Whenever we collect data, we always reflect the themes that are emerging. However, we don’t stop there. Language matters and we are interested in what people mean, as well as what they say. Good insight work involves collectively considering what we are learning from the data; what is the data teaching us? To move beyond themes, we need to ask ourselves: “so what, now what?” Good insight work is therefore developed through a social process of sense making and grounded in context. If insights are to survive contact with reality, they must have been created by people who are doing the work.  

Pausing to consider what is not in the data. By doing so, we are attending to the presence of what is missing. This takes courage but is important if we are to ensure things are not left unsaid, or unresolved. Good insight work is therefore about being more than a mirror, it can sometimes be about addressing the elephant in the room, or asking incisive questions that help communities get to the heart of what matters. It can also be about linking what is emerging to a much larger frame. The focus becomes less on mastering each part of the picture that is emerging, and more on how each part connects to form a bigger picture; we each become active contributors to the whole.  

Believing we each hold a piece of the jigsaw. When we create spaces for people to explore each piece they hold, they have opportunities to assemble those pieces in new and sometimes surprising ways that can lead to new ways of thinking about an issue. Diversifying the range of perspectives in the room and using different frameworks or lenses for viewing and making sense of data, helps ensure insights are fresh, relevant with the potential to lead to breakthrough thinking.  

Intertwined with strategic facilitation and design. When we create spaces for people to ask questions, challenge assumptions and learn together, we foster collaborative environments where diverse perspectives are valued, and everyone feels able to contribute. If we change the facilitator, or adapt the design for a session, we impact the insights that emerge. Insight, facilitation and design are deliberately integrated at Horizons to help people navigate uncertainty and create solutions that are innovative and deeply human.  

Dynamic, iterative and a constant process of sense making, reflection and sense checking. When people come together to explore an issue, their thinking naturally evolves. Meaning cannot be made to stand still; we are each on a learning journey to understand where we are starting (and how we got here), where it is we need to go next, and to identify those actions that help us to bridge to a new future. In this sense, insights only ever represent a snapshot in time of what people think.  Much like Wikipedia is an evolving organic social repository of our collective wisdom, insights are always evolving and never final. In this way, they are best viewed as a bridge to the next conversation that’s needed to help frame and reframe, how a community or group move forward. 

Timely and focussed on impact. Rapid is not necessarily how quickly insights are generated, but how insight is used to form part of a cycle of continuous learning. Good insight work is therefore about shaping thinking when it matters the most, so we can exploit any policy windows. Rapid Insight can be used to support iterative cycles of learning, development, testing and experimentation. We try something, and then share feedback into the system to help progress and develop ideas. Each time we generate insights, we layer our understanding, creating options that support movement towards a direction. Rapid insight is data for action through collective sense making. It is an approach which helps us to “make sense of the world so we can act in it.” 2 

Storytelling. Rapid insight requires us to work alongside others to give voice to their ideas, views, reflections and concerns, in ways that make insights “sing”. Whether we are doing this verbally or in writing, this requires connecting with people across time and space, and using their words to develop calls to action, supporting people to believe their actions matter. 3 We want ideas to be discussed and shared by other people so it’s important we use data to develop clear and compelling narrative.  

Amplifying less heard voices, or those voices “on the edge” Sessions can commonly create too much data for any one person to make sense of, so we have developed a Pop-Up Insight Model (more to follow on this soon), where we bring together a diverse team of volunteers who can immerse themselves in the data, and work alongside us to make sense of it. What unites volunteers is a shared curiosity, a desire to influence and shape what next, and a desire to learn from each other. Commonly, volunteers are diverse, do very different roles, and have a range of backgrounds and experiences, all leading to richer insights and the opportunity to spot new or interesting ideas or under heard perspectives. This means we have greater parity in the process overall, making Rapid Insight an intervention by itself. 

Growing our wisdom. Each new ring on a tree signifies a tree’s growth journey. If we repeatedly apply rapid insight as an approach to an issue, we generate rapid cycles of learning. Like the rings on a tree, each cycle of learning allows us to look back and see how as a community, we have grown in new ways that created space for clarity and transformation. Rapid insight can bring years of institutional wisdom and reflection together in powerful ways that elevate and speed up our shared learning. 

Systems leadership.  The act of generating new meaning to discover new possibilities constitutes leadership. 4 5 If we integrate facilitation, design and rapid insights, we create the conditions where people and communities, can re-imagine, experiment and voice options for a better future; together we are practicing systems leadership. However, this requires a mindset shift; it requires leaders to lead from a position of not knowing and from a place of curiosity. It requires leaders to let go – and instead focus on creating the conditions where individuals can plant the seeds they are each carrying, nurture and grow them into transformed possibilities that will help us tackle some of our most systemic complex issues. As Warren Bennis puts it, “effective leaders put words to the formless longings and deeply felt needs of others. They create communities out of words.” 6 

As with any complex system, there are several interacting elements which need to come together to make up the system as a whole. Rapid Insight is not one of these metaphors, it is ALL of them combined, and this is because “learning is the strategy”. 7 Insights change how we understand, act, see, feel and desire. Put simply, insights transform our thinking. Insights support us in learning our way to a new future, changing how we act and transforming us at the same time. As Hilary Mantel observed in Wolf Hall, “Insight cannot be taken back. You cannot return to the moment you were in before.” The process of generating new and fresh insights has therefore got to be ongoing and continuous8 ; we must constantly seek to expand our field of view. 

This is the first time we have shared in more detail – some metaphors and different ways of exploring what makes great insight. From your perspective, what does it mean to have an insight? What metaphors spring to your mind when you think about insight? If you are interested in learning more, or found this post useful, please follow us at https://x.com/HorizonsNHS or find us on LinkedIn. We would love to hear what you think. Please do share your comments below write to us.  

References: 

  1. Klein, G. Seeing what others don’t. The remarkable ways we gain insights. Nicholas Brealey Publishing; 2017. 
  1. Snowden, D. What is sense-making? Published 7 June 2008. Available at: What is Sense-making? – The Cynefin Co  
  1. Pipher, M (2006) Writing to change the world. An inspiring guide for transforming the world with words. Riverhead Books; 2006 
  1. Karakusevic, S., Yearsley, L., and Maddocks-Brown, Liz. Networks, the clear blue water of change or the “wave tops” on the sea? Healthcare Management Forum. 2023: 1-4. 
  1. Drath WH, Pauls JP. Making Common Sense: Leadership as Meaning Making in a Community of Practice. Center for Creative Leadership; 1994 
  1. Warren Bennis (1993) An invented life: reflections on leadership and change. Reading. Mass: Addison Wesley. 
  1. Centre for Public Impact, Collaborate for Social Change, Easier Inc. Institute for Voluntary Action Research, Northumbria University and Thempra Social Pedagogy. Human Learning Systems: Public Service for the Real World. Published June 2021. Available at: https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/assets/documents/hls-real-world.pdf?__hstc=45853115.39a72520253e9df07f1a4f9561d3cdda.1721204187609.1721204187609.1721204187609.1&__hssc=45853115.1.1721204187609&__hsfp=3981457101  
  1. Yearsley, L. Rapid Insight: the missing piece in how we lead large scale change. Published 9 July 2024. Available at: Rapid Insight: the missing piece in how we lead large-scale change  – NHS Horizons (horizonsnhs.com)  

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