How to find insights like Steve Jobs?
By: Epiphany, A Product Discovery Platform
Tags: Design, Science, UX, Innovation, Startup

Why is it hard to find good insights?

Because you have to be a genius.

Aristotle, Darwin, and Jobs were all geniuses.

In his book, “On the Heavens” he covers the nature of the universe — introduces dimensionality of objects, states of matter, a rudimentary form of Newton’s first law of motion and the Geocentric Model. His ideas lay the fundamental framework for people like Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton[10].

Darwin’s ideas were largely based on direct observations. He traveled around the globe from 1831 to 1836, studying and cataloging the local plants and animals. Over the course of his travels, he began to see intriguing patterns in the distribution and features of organisms[14].

And of-course, Jobs led the creation of some of the most revolutionary products in technology by identifying key market trends at each point in time. Be it, how the computer could become the bicycle for the mind, or how animation technology could change the movie industry forever.

All their contributions were absolutely insane.

And being a “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

Inspiration is arbitrary, it can come from anywhere and comes only after you have the intent to do something.

Aristotle inspired by Plato and Pythagoras, who proposed the idea based on aesthetic grounds — Sphere’s look good[9]. Darwin found his in economics — from an Essay on the Principle of Population[13]. Jobs allegedly got his from Richard Branson’s Prank in 1986[4].

And the 99 percent perspiration is really hard.

What makes people geniuses though is their uncanny ability to find patterns in a vast amount of information. They can organize, make sense of, recall and make connections between ideas and concepts us ordinary folk would really struggle with[16,18].

And this is 99% of the work that sets them apart.

Here’s an example from Darwin’s work — from the voyage of the Beagle[14]:

Darwin’s finches by Gould

Darwin’s seminal book, On the Origin of Species, was largely based on direct observations from his travels around the globe. From 1831 to 1836, he was part of a survey expedition carried out by the ship HMS Beagle, which included stops in South America, Australia, and the southern tip of Africa. At each of the expedition’s stops, Darwin had the opportunity to study and catalog the local plants and animals. Over the course of his travels, Darwin began to see intriguing patterns in the distribution and features of organisms. We can see some of the most important patterns Darwin noticed in distribution of organisms by looking at his observations of the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Darwin found that nearby islands in the Galápagos had similar but nonidentical species of finches living on them. Moreover, he noted that each finch species was well-suited for its environment and role. For instance, species that ate large seeds tended to have large, tough beaks, while those that ate insects had thin, sharp beaks. Finally, he observed that the finches (and other animals) found on the Galápagos Islands were similar to species on the nearby mainland of Ecuador, but different from those found elsewhere in the world. Darwin didn’t figure all of this out on his trip. In fact, he didn’t even realize all the finches were related but distinct species until he showed his specimens to a skilled ornithologist (bird biologist) years later! Gradually, however, he came up with an idea that could explain the pattern of related but different finches. According to Darwin’s idea, this pattern would make sense if the Galápagos Islands had long ago been populated by birds from the neighboring mainland. On each island, the finches might have gradually adapted to local conditions (over many generations and long periods of time). This process could have led to the formation of one or more distinct species on each island. If this idea was correct, though, why was it correct? What mechanism could explain how each finch population had acquired adaptations, or features that made it well-suited to its immediate environment? During his voyage, and in the years after, Darwin developed and refined a set of ideas that could explain the patterns he had observed during his voyage. In his book, On the Origin of Species, Darwin outlined his two key ideas: evolution and natural selection. - Excerpt from Darwin, evolution, & natural selection

Their body of work may be different, the fact that each one of them could repeatability find good insights means a set of steps they follow works.