Editor’s Note: In this occasional column for All Things Insights, consumer insights expert Colleen Funkey explores the 6 personas you can use to deliver on high impact work and move your insights career forward. The next persona that she examines is “The Optimist.”
Persona 3: The Optimist
What if?
Two words that reframe thinking and open us up to new possibilities. Asking “what if” is not just a technique, it is a mindset, one that imagines better outcomes. At the heart of this mindset is optimism, a belief that even if the path is unclear, that with the right understanding, better outcomes are possible. Optimists believe that new perspectives can lead to better solutions which makes them willing to listen deeply, especially to voices that challenge convention.
Finding the solution in the problem
What if a negative could be a positive? What if what you see might not be all there is to see? If you look long and hard enough at the problem, you might just see the solution hidden within it.
When I worked on a big beer brand, we tussled with how to sharpen the brand positioning to invigorate and drive relevance for a brand that had once shaped youth culture but lost relevancy over time. We kept hearing the same lukewarm sentiment from consumers: ‘it’s always been there’; ‘it hasn’t changed’; ‘It’s still the same.’ We interpreted this to be brand malaise and a ‘meh’ from consumers who were increasingly drawn to the new, different and what seemed to be more interesting propositions. We had become the category generic and our brand health metrics confirmed it.
After listening to consumer stories about their personal experiences with the brand, going much deeper than we typically do in consumer research and asking them to share stories of their first and most memorable experiences with the brand, we had an aha! moment.
We considered…. What if being predictable, consistent and always there, was a good thing… when you think about it, isn’t that what friendship is? Just like that, we rallied around the idea of friendship and all the pieces fell into place, it made all the sense in the world because beer is social, it brings people together, it fosters bonds and our brand had been doing this for generations. Suddenly, we saw what consumers told us in a new light… the glass was not half empty, it was in fact half full. The solution was lying buried in the problem, we just needed to re-imagine the problem in order to see it.
The next time you are faced with a negative, be it a business problem, client, agency or stakeholder challenge, consider whether the negative could be a positive in a different situation or context. Flip the script and ask yourself: in what world would that negative be a good thing?
Why your ‘weakness’ might be your greatest strength
I recall a time when I had just arrived in the U.S. without any local experience and working at a small ad agency. We were pitching a new campaign idea to a spirits client. While waiting for the brand lead to enter the room, a member of his team sitting next to me asked if I was new and proceeded to quiz me on my U.S. and alcohol experience. She asked with a surprised look on her face for me to clarify: ‘So you have no U.S. experience and you have no alcohol experience?’ I had neither at the time, so my answer was simply ‘no’, there wasn’t much else to say.
Launching into my presentation a few minutes later was especially intimidating but after a successful pitch that landed us the work, I considered that perhaps the person sitting next to me who had only U.S. experience and only alcohol industry experience was the one with the limiting beliefs and experience. What I lacked in conventional experience, I made up for in perspective and optimism. Without the weight of assumptions, I was curious and able to explore possibilities that others might have overlooked.
Curiosity is inherently a trait of optimists
As insights professionals, we oftentimes find ourselves navigating ambiguity. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable requires a curious mindset and belief that there is something meaningful to discover even though it is not clear yet. Optimists embrace the gray, trusting that something insightful lies waiting to be found. It is in the gray that the most meaningful, transformative insights are often found.
“An insight is something that is retrospectively self-evident.” – Stan Sthanunathan, former EVP, CMI Unilever
This belief that clarity will emerge empowers optimists to ask bold questions and challenge assumptions rather than cling to what is already believed.
Optimism fuels courage
Optimists navigate ambiguity with curiosity rather than fear. For consumer insights professionals, an optimistic mindset can be a strategic tool to help us embrace the gray, trust that clarity will emerge and lead with the belief that a better outcome is possible. With that belief comes courage to re-frame obstacles as opportunities. As insights professionals, we have an opportunity to be the optimist in the room who sees the possibility and moves others toward it. What if that optimist were you?
Click here for more columns from Colleen Funkey’s “6 Personas to Propel Your Insights Career” series (or see the stories below).
4. The Clarifier
5. The Juggler
6. The Influencer
Video: “How to Stay Optimistic in an Ever-Changing World,” courtesy of Simon Sinek.
