Insider Vs. Outsider Thinking
Everybody – Flipchart & Markers – 10 Minutes
How to Run Insider Vs. Outsider Thinking
- Prompt the group to list their reasons for a decision from their perspective as “insiders”
- Capture their thoughts, relevant figures, and known facts on a flip chart for everyone to see
- On a separate flip chart, capture the perspective of “outsiders” looking at the situation as people who do not have the group’s background knowledge
- Compare and contrast lists to glean insights and strengthen the overall plan
Examples & Prompts
Launching a new product or service:
Consider what your team of insiders is excited about vs. what you think your customers (the outsiders) are going to be most excited by.
Making a decision in which one side has significantly more power or influence:
Use Insider vs. Outsider Thinking to represent both sides of the question — what do the managers want? What do the workers want?
Making a change in work culture:
Say you’ve got a school tradition that the new students want to move away from, but that still has meaning to the old guard. The insiders would be teachers or leaders who were there for 20+ years — what is important to those people about the traditions? For the outsider’s perspective, consider what priorities new counselors or teachers might have.
When someone is coming to a new community, they’re almost never coming for the traditions — they’re coming for the significance of the community. This card shines a light on both perspectives without claiming that one is better or should be valued more than the other.
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