“Actionable insights” is a phrase that has become common in data science and BI parlance. I almost loathe the term; it ranks right up there with synergy. From team meetings to job postings, the phrase routinely infiltrates professional discussions. You participate in meetings where you know the phrase will come up before the discussion begins. It’s become expected jargon from senior managers. “We need actionable insights.” Nobody can tell you quite what they are, what they look like, or what they entail. And yet, you are expected to deliver them.
I’m convinced that when the phrase enters the discussion, managers are somewhat at a loss as to what to do. They see some hint or promise of opportunity for organizational improvement, but aren’t quite sure what, specifically, they are after. They have a hunch there’s some nugget of insight to be had. But they can’t quite put their finger on it. If they could, they would articulate what the team should be building, detail the question they should answer or explore, or describe the data sources that need to be combined. And more importantly, they should be able to define how this actionable insight would influence decision-making in the organization, or how it could deliver new capabilities or features to end users.
But they can’t articulate it. At least not yet. They don’t know what it is themselves. They may have a rough notion of what it could look like. But it’s still too fuzzy. They need fresh ideas or new perspectives.
And that’s why they want your help.
More than likely, what they really need is someone to help with a bit of critical thinking, to explore the problem context, account for business rules, consider organizational processes, and so on. This means you have an opportunity to communicate across the organization to find out what the problem boundaries really are, not what they appear to be. This is your opportunity to shine.
Actionability
Data alone is not actionable; it provides only a snapshot of the problem - of a state of nature.
Analysis is useful to derive meaning out of data, but it also is not actionable – it is a way to show relationships and extract meaning from data.
Visualization & communication are essential to summarize and highlight results from both data and analysis. This is one of the primary reasons you see repeated calls for analysts and data scientists to become better storytellers. But your visualizations alone aren’t actionable – they are merely useful devices for depicting relationships between data and communicating the stories about how the state of nature has changed.
Actionability comes from insight - “an unexpected shift in our understanding” - which results from incorporating the problem context, knowing what can be done to affect change, deciding to take that action, and committing to evaluating the results. If our goal is ultimately to improve decision-making across the organization, the insights we share stem from a shared understanding of how something in the organization either works or is broken, how it can be improved or fixed, and what the likely or potential outcome is.
Insight and change go hand-in-hand. Whenever we uncover an insight, it inescapably leads to changes if the data is acted upon. – Brent Dykes, Effective Data Storytelling
When someone asks for actionable insights, they’re asking you to give them an unexpected shift in their understanding of the problem at hand.
If you are to help reshape their understanding, you must have a deep understanding of the problem context, a firm grasp of the organizational mechanics – the relevant levers each stakeholder has available, how they affect key operations or organizational outcomes, knowledge about where the decision lies, and what the recommended solutions entail (who is affected, how are they affected, what new resources are required, etc.).
There are no easy shortcuts to mastering this — most of it comes through applying your critical thinking and time in the seat. You give yourself an advantage by recognizing what actionable insights mean and what they entail. Active listening is a skill that will help you become better aware of the context around you. Here are some things you can do to practice active listening:
- engage and seek out conversations with mentors and experienced staff that you trust,
- build trust with others in your organization by sharing your curiosity and desire to deliver,
- be willing to ask honest questions and to be vulnerable, seeking the benefit of the organization rather than demonstrating your technical prowess.
Leading to Changes
When you notice this jargon infiltrating the team’s communication patterns, you have valuable opportunities open up. But the skills to really move the conversation forward take time to develop, require a bit of critical thinking and business acumen, and rely on building trusting relationships with people across your organization.
High-performing teams and organizations will have people with the qualities needed to build trust, vulnerability, openness, and, ultimately, accountability. If you struggle to find people with those qualities in your current position, I hope you’ll find them in your next one.