Finding insights

I think my day is very similar to your day in that it revolves around emails, calls, and meetings. What changes is the content. At the core, we’re all seeking insights worth sharing and acting upon. This quest isn’t without its challenges.
Two competing principles that I run into:
𝗧𝘄𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘄: This warns “Any figure that looks interesting or different is usually wrong”. Often, what appears to be groundbreaking is merely a data anomaly.
𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢’𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: The design and innovation firm, IDEO, in a recent article (link in the comments) suggests looking for outliers in the data. These deviations can spark innovation.
Traditionally, data analysis has us dismissing outliers, viewing them as potential errors. Yet, when innovating with data, there’s value in exploring these anomalies, delving into their reasons, and fostering curiosity.
The challenge I find is within the calls and email finding the transformative nuggets of insight and managing the tug of war between finding something legitimate and worrying if its noise.