Are we living in a world of insight inflation?

Just finished an invigorating strategy workshop but one thing I noticed was the amount of time the word ‘insight’ was mentioned and it got me thinking… are we living in a world of ‘insight inflation’. The word is used a lot but, honestly, most  “insights” aren’t insights at all.

We use the word constantly — in brand plans, advisory boards, research decks, strategy meetings. But when you boil it down, what’s labelled an insight is usually something far more ordinary: a data point, a quote, a preference or a trend.

If so many things are insights, doesn’t the word itself become meaningless?

…”Specialists want simpler pathways.”

…”Patients feel isolated.”

…”Diagnosis takes too long.”

…”HCPs lack confidence in managing progression.”

All are important no doubt, but are they really insights if they don’t reveal anything new or shift perspective?

So I asked myself: what is a real insight — the kind that actually changes strategy, and I went back to a definition I was taught years ago, where there were three components:

1. A Truth

Something real, grounded in evidence or lived experience (not easy in rare disease though).

2. A Tension

A contradiction or friction point — often the gap between what clinicians say they do and what they can do in a fragmented system.

3. A Transformation

A shift in perspective that points to a new implication or opportunity.

AKA the three “T”s… it’s not the quanti”T” it’s the quali”T” of insight.

Remove any one of these “T”s and you’re left with a finding, not an insight.

For example:

Weak:

“Physicians value convenience in treatment administration.”

Stronger:

“In rare disease, physicians say convenience matters — but what they really fear is losing control in an area they have less experience. Convenience is a proxy for confidence.”

That’s the difference.

One is information and the other changes how you think — and what you do next.

If we want better decisions - especially in rare disease - we need to reclaim the word insight and use it with intention!