How do you add value? How do you make a difference? How do you stand out? How are you best remembered? Think about the best dinner conversations you have ever had or participated in; recall the most interesting discussion joined in with friends – what comes to mind?
Do you remember what stuck with you as an exciting thought; a fascinating subject; a remarkable concept?
Do you remember what grabbed your attention?
On the flip side can you remember the same basic set of circumstances but with the following twist – the conversation was so boring you couldn’t wait to run….
Here is a bet – the stuff that grabbed you was formed by opinion. Interesting, well thought out, connected to something important to you opinion.
Opinions can be powerful – opinions can be dangerous – opinions can be stupid – but when they are meaningful they are hard to forget and sticky like glue.
So here is a thought:
Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.
- Charles McCabe
Facts are important and form the foundation of every great opinion I have ever heard – but facts alone are a commodity; boring –
Look at the CIA and its counterparts around the world – all get the facts (or most do…) the question is who has the best analysts – who can form the strongest opinion from them.
Anyone can read back the facts – for example – how many offices, in how many countries, with how many people, doing how many things – the question is what can you do with that information?
The anti-commodity antidote is taking the facts and making them sing…
Your opinion…???
Equally important is the context in which you consider the facts. This reminds me of an old saying “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I’ve got my mind made up”!
Agree with you…however, I don’t know if it is as easy to get all the facts as stated. If it is a simple thing, I wonder why more people aren’t doing it. Opinions are imperative, but I like hearing informed opinions…from people I respect (and that respect many times comes from these opinions). People who just give an opinion without reason behind it can be quite frustrating. Brainstorming is a completely different thing in terms of opinions, but on a day-to-day basis, I think it is a necessary distinction. jb
You are actually touching on the fundemental principal of our business. I believe what differntiates the great people fron the average ones in our business is being able to take almost geniric looking facts and turn them into relevant and distinctive insights/opinions that motivate consumers to want to join in the conversation. And then knowing how to keep the conversation going!
As I said — facts are the price of entry — informed opinion — insight if you will — is the currency of competition
Agree with all of the above. But want to reinforce Jennifer’s point: perfect information has an infinite cost. So, part of the insight that we bring lies in deciding which ‘facts’ to believe and which to discount. Often insight results from trying to decipher and explain the difference between a fact or statistic and our expectation of that statistic. Our expectations and perceptions of significant differences are informed by our experiences. These qualify us as subject matter experts. All that said, it is insights which distinguish us. Including the sense of when to ignore unreliable or spurious ‘facts’.
From 19th century philosophy, the notion of “pragmatism” = the value of knowing something.
Knowing something, and knowing why it is worth knowing (or worth finding out) are two different things.
Gaining the knowing of something can be difficult and costly, but putting value on the knowledge is a higher state of being and doing.
Sometimes opinions, and even insights, aren’t enough. The question is: what do we do with them? Applying thought and strategy – based on our knowledge, experience, skills, etc. – towards a meaningful and measurable outcome is what is expected from us.
action — always trumps nothing — no matter how smart nothing might be