2.2
Articulating
Your goal is to describe what you’ve found in way that allows others to immediately feel the opportunity it creates.
Second, it’s specific. It names a real, rooted force, not a vague feeling. It tells you where to look, what lever might actually shift the system.
Third, it’s catalytic. It inspires action without prescribing a single solution. It doesn’t close the conversation — it opens it in a sharper, more fruitful direction.
Fourth, it’s memorable. It’s phrased simply enough to live in someone’s mind, to be repeated in the rooms you’re not in, to spread.
If your articulation feels obvious, vague, or purely observational, keep working. You haven't gotten close enough yet.
“They’re solving for X, but the real pressure is coming from Y.” (Use this to reframe where the problem actually lives.)
“The category talks about X. People care about Y.” (Great for insight grounded in cultural or consumer disconnects.)
“They think they’re choosing X — but really, they’re avoiding Y.” (Useful when a behavior masks a deeper fear, friction, or emotional driver.)
“Everyone is optimizing for X. But the smart move now is Y.” (A way to frame the emerging play, not just the current game.)
“It looks like a functional decision. It’s actually an emotional one.” (Use this when logic is the mask, but feeling is the engine.)
“If X used to be enough, it isn’t anymore.” (A clean way to signal a shift in expectations or standards.)
Read it aloud: If it sounds clunky or academic, rewrite it until it flows naturally.
Respect the nuance: Great insights don’t flatten reality; they clarify it without killing its complexity.
Articulating makes strategic movement possible. The best insights don’t feel surprising once you hear them. They feel inevitable, like they were waiting there all along, just unspoken until now.
But finding the key is not enough. You still have to walk through the door. Insights unlock the problem space. Concepts shape what comes next.
Now that you can recognize and articulate insights, it’s time to take the next step: Organizing your thinking into structured, shareable concepts, the ideas that will anchor all the action to come.