The Insights Function Is Done Taking Orders
On seeing people clearly, asking better questions, and returning insights to their rightful place.
We are living through a crisis of insights influence. And we’ve been in this crisis for a while, though the rapid acceleration in real-time access to an abundance of data, coupled with a simultaneous erosion of the strategic relevance of that data, seems to be deepening it. For far too long, the insights function has been conditioned to operate as an internal, reactive service provider (a glorified help desk, some might say), often proving its worth by responding to requests after the most important decisions have already been made. This approach not only drains our most talented people, it also relegates a critical investment area to a transactional cost center. The imperative now is to stop merely taking orders and instead, drive the strategic conversation.
This requires an organizational pivot. The insights function's destiny is to be a strategic co-pilot, and companies like Netflix offer the blueprint. There, understanding human behavior consistently shapes the trajectory of content, product, communications, policy, and brand strategies because research professionals, with the rich wisdom they carry and buoyed by constant access to old and new data and insights, are treated as guides, not service providers. Decisions move faster. Culturally-rich local stories reach global audiences at breakneck speed. And teams notice patterns before they become crises. This is the difference between reporting and real influence.
Organizations say they want trusted advisors, but what they really need are expert co-pilots: partners who show up early, navigate uncertainty alongside them, and remain present long enough to see the ripple effects of their work. Strategy emerges from human choices and has consequences that stretch far beyond the boardroom. Research teams that embrace this fully do more than pull insights from data. They shape understanding, build trust, and create space for discussion, debate, and alignment. Influence comes from curiosity, suspending judgment, sustaining relationships, breaking down silos, and letting the work reflect the nuance of the people the company exists to serve. Perhaps most importantly, influence deepens when research teams have the humility to know when no further research is needed—and there is already enough insight to act.
The insights function was never meant to live at the edge, on the outskirts of where the action happens, where strategy bets are hatched, and where the company's direction is shaped, as if a second-class citizen. At its best, it sits at the center, like a heartbeat, constantly helping teams metabolize insights faster, choose next steps more wisely, and build competitive, brand-strong, relevant solutions for the humans affected by their decisions. This work asks for patience, and something bordering on passion—a willingness to seek out, or even create, the messy moments where breakthroughs appear.
Transformation rarely comes from frameworks alone. It emerges when someone steps into a meeting that feels uncomfortable and asks the questions no one else dared. When they sit with uncertainty, listen to incomplete or contradictory answers, and notice the patterns others might miss. When they surface tensions, point out assumptions, and gently push the group to consider what the data and the people in the room are truly telling them. Transformation happens in those messy, unpolished spaces where new possibilities reveal themselves.
Today, technology and AI continue to evolve faster than ever. Data flows from every direction, algorithms predict patterns, and dashboards track trends in real time. Yet insight remains human. It lives in the questions people ask, the patterns they notice, and the curiosity that connects data to understanding. Tools can accelerate work, but they cannot replace the patience, empathy, and judgment that turn knowledge into action.
Insights are powerful only when they connect to action, and action matters only when it serves the people on the other side. Gathering knowledge, synthesizing it, translating it into guidance—this work carries weight only when it helps someone create something better. Insight comes alive at the heart of decision-making, treated not as a document, but as a conversation. When it provokes thought, ignites action, and lingers long enough to shape what comes next. These moments remind you why the work matters.
The challenge has never been information. Data has never been the problem. The real difficulty is moving from knowing to doing, from data to understanding, from insight to transformation. Teams elevate their work by embedding themselves in decisions, bringing the right people together, surfacing the right questions, and asking the questions no one else has thought to ask. The act of discovery itself shapes better outcomes. These are the teams that leave a mark not just on the business, but on the people they serve and the colleagues they work alongside.
Insight at the center of decision-making allows teams to make choices that are wiser, more empathetic, and aligned with the humans affected by the products, services, and solutions a company offers. When the focus is on people, outcomes follow. When treated as a living, breathing part of an organization, insight can change outcomes, shape culture, and illuminate what is possible when people are truly seen and heard. Technology may evolve, but insight remains timeless when rooted in human connection.
