Why do some insights change the way everyone thinks about a topic? While others just seem to slip away into the ether and go nowhere?
I’ve been thinking about this for well over a decade. I’ve been a partner in over 5 research studies in an attempt to get to the heart of the matter. I’ve been the co-producer of a thought leadership conference designed to drive toward the answer. I’ve worked with a wide range of subject matter experts to help develop their thinking. And I’ve worked on literally hundreds of research projects spanning from the fundamentals of middle market growth to fluvial flood prediction.
And, while the answer always feels like it’s right in front of me. It also feels just out of reach…like Indiana Jones grasping for the grail down a rapidly widening crevasse.
Some Insights Scale. Some Don’t. Why?
But just last week, I had an incredible conversation that brought me a whole lot more clarity on something I’ve been chasing for over 10 years.
Jeff McKay and I welcomed Matt Dixon back to our podcast. Matt is a best-selling author and an all-around great guy. He first burst on the scene a little over a decade ago when he co-authored the well-known, bestselling book on B2B selling, The Challenger Sale. More recently, he co-authored The Activator Advantage, which examines what the most successful rainmakers in professional services firms do differently.
Both books were based on groundbreaking research that uncovered a key insight that reframed how people thought about a critical business problem. And both insights spawned highly successful consulting and training businesses.
In short, Matt has been at the helm of blockbuster insights that have successfully scaled. Yet he’s humble enough to talk about the hundreds of research projects he’s been a part of that went nowhere.
This was our third time talking with Matt. I wanted to get an update on the rapid growth in his training business, which was built around his “activator” research. And, more importantly, I wanted to pick his brain on this very topic … why some insights scale … and others go nowhere.
Thought Leadership vs. Commercial Insights
One of the distinguishing features of a great thought leader is the ability to take complex topics, make sense of them, and simplify them for people to understand. In the murky world of thought leadership, I feel like Matt did it better than I ever could.
Matt suggested that we look at the work we do, as thought leadership professionals, in three buckets, which he largely defined as follows:
- Thought Leadership – Primarily, thought leadership is content that is newsworthy, accurate, and relevant. It engages with the latest topics and trends to show the market that a company is smart and engaged. It is about being seen as having a point of view on significant market trends.
- Insights – While also newsworthy and relevant, insights differ from thought leadership in that they are frame-breaking. They present a different point of view that prompts the reader to reconsider their understanding, often leading to surprise or a new perspective on an issue. Insights challenge the existing mental model and offer a counterintuitive approach or perspective.
- Commercial Insights — Commercial insights, on the other hand, are frame-breaking insights that not only challenge the customer’s current thinking but also lead them to you as the best or only solution provider. These insights are designed to help the customer see a problem in a new way and recognize your company as the unique solution to that problem. The goal is to create a need that only you can fulfill, effectively differentiating you from competitors.
Put a little more succinctly, I would argue that the key reframe here is this:
Thought leadership is about developing a POV that shows clients you see the world much like they do. An insight discovers something new that no one else has and reframes a problem with a new and unique POV. A commercial insight turns that insight into a product or service that no one else can.
Why Does This Matter?
I know what you’re thinking. “Jason, this is all semantics… I DON’T CARE.”
But it’s not. And here’s why…
At most firms, 100% of the work we do as marketing and editorial professionals falls into the thought leadership bucket above. This work is tremendously important because it shows clients that our firms are relevant. That we understand the issues of the day. And we have a POV about them. It connects us with prospects who see the world the way we do.
It helps our firms get into clients’ consideration sets for the problems we solve.
At many great firms, like Matt’s, the lion’s share of the effort is focused on the other two buckets (insights and commercial insights). This is work that requires in-depth multi-dimensional research (generally a combination of surveys and qualitative interviews). It’s work that takes a longer time horizon. Generally, months of open-minded discovery to get to a true insight – something no one else knows. Then, of course, months or years turning that insight into both compelling content AND proprietary products and services.
Done well, this work turns us into a unit of one for clients.
In my experience, the latter work is the work that most firms DON’T DO. But it’s also the work that’s most valuable. This is work that turned Matt’s firm (DCM Insights) into one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. last year. And work that helped his prior firm (CEB) scale and sell for over $2B to Gartner.
Now to be clear, the latter work takes a longer time commitment, more patience, and much more fortitude. It’s also a bit like operating a VC fund. Nine out of 10 initiatives stall out.
But the ones that hit? Well, it’s a lot like striking gold.
