Shownotes
What if an insight doesn’t lead to action? Does that mean it failed? In this episode of the Greenbook Podcast, Karen Lynch speaks with Nadine van Rooyen, Senior Effectiveness Manager at WEX, about challenging one of the insights industry’s most persistent assumptions: that value is defined by actionability. Nadine explains why insights can create meaningful business impact even when recommendations aren’t implemented, and how decision quality, prioritization, and organizational trade-offs offer a more complete picture of success. They also explore the importance of understanding internal stakeholders, tailoring insights to different audiences, and using AI to strengthen communication without losing the human relationships that make insights influential. For research and insights professionals, it’s a compelling case for measuring value across the entire decision-making process.
Key Discussion Points
- Moving beyond actionability as the ultimate measure of success: Why a recommendation that isn’t implemented can still improve understanding, prioritization, and decision-making.
- Measuring insights across a value chain: Nadine explains how trust, context, prioritization, trade-offs, and decision quality all contribute to the impact of research.
- Why better decisions matter more than perfect outcomes: Business decisions rarely happen with complete information, making insights an essential piece of a much larger organizational puzzle.
- Treating internal stakeholders like distinct audiences: How tailoring insights for finance, sales, customer service, leadership, and other teams can increase relevance and influence.
- The future of insights in an AI-powered organization: Why AI can help researchers better understand stakeholders and communicate effectively, while human relationships remain irreplaceable.
Resources & Links
You can reach out to Nadine van Rooyen on LinkedIn.
Many thanks to Nadine van Rooyen for being our guest. Thanks also to our production team and our editor at Big Bad Audio.
