The Origins of Insights

Welcome to InSights

Welcome to the first edition of InSights by Intellectual Strategies—a newsletter for those building, thinking, and leading outside the lines.

This isn't just a newsletter. It's a movement.

A movement for people who think differently, lead intentionally, and act with strategic clarity. InSights is where independent minds come to sharpen how they see. How they build. And how they lead.

We’ll be publishing stories, frameworks, and reflections like this regularly. If today’s piece resonates, don’t simply move on. Make sure you: 

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Focus on Insights

It’s only fitting that we begin where all meaningful direction begins: with insights. Not data. Not consensus. Not philosophy. Simply, the birth of insights.

Insights are flashes of clarity. Those shifts in perspective. That guidance of overarching frameworks. The recognition of patterns you didn’t know you were seeing until they snapped into focus.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely someone who builds from that space. Someone who trusts what emerges not from noise, but from nuance. This isn’t just about a trigger—it’s a signal. A way of saying: here, we think insightfully. Strategically. Sometimes rebelliously. Always with intention.

Let’s begin where the real work starts: with the origins of how we see and receive insights.

Part I: The Origins of Insight

Before insights motivate action, they reshape perception.

"A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (American writer, 1809-1894)

Insights feel sudden—but they rarely are. Research shows that those “aha!” moments are often the product of subconscious incubation. In a landmark review, cognitive neuroscientists Kounios and Beeman (2014) demonstrated that insight arises when the brain is allowed to step back and restructure problems behind the scenes.¹

That restructuring rarely happens in the middle of a team status meeting. It happens in the margins. Long drives. Walks without purpose. Silent mornings. The brain’s default mode network becomes most active when we’re not trying to solve anything—which is often when the best answers, even insights, surface.

A Stanford study found that walking boosts creative output by up to 60%.² Another study in Psychology of Aesthetics emphasized the power of daydreaming and spatial shifts to promote divergent thinking.³ 

Insights need space.

But here’s the complementary twist: creativity loves constraints. 

Well-placed boundaries can increase innovation by forcing us to focus, adapt, and rethink resourcefully.⁴ The key is “sequencing” or giving yourself unstructured space to let ideas collide, then apply constraints to mold them into form. Insights without action are potential. Constraints make insights practical.

And finally—insight are not obedience. Insights happen when the internal signals grow louder than the external scripts. Insights don’t only add clarity; they often demands departure. From systems, assumptions, careers—even self-concepts.

That’s what makes insights so powerful. And that’s why intentionally cultivating insights can change more than just decisions on your intended path—insights can fundamentally change the path you choose to travel.

Part II: The 7 Insight Profiles

So, why do people discover and recognize insights differently?

"If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things."
- Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch painter, 1853-1890)

Insights may feel universal, but the paths to discover insights are not. People metabolize experience, tension, and information in profoundly different ways. Across our decades of work with founders, legal strategists, and creative operators, we’ve identified seven recurring Insight Profiles. These aren’t static labels—they’re patterns. Lenses. Ways to better understand how you, and those around you, are wired for discovery and clarity.

Below we review our 7 Insight Profiles, identify overlapping qualities with Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTIs), and provide examples of popular figures who likely align with our Insight Profiles. However, we’re quick to admit that the world of innovation isn’t bound by clear rules, archetypes, or fine delineations. Additionally, references to individuals are extrapolations of their Insight Profiles based solely on their actions—it’s possible their dominant Insight Profiles are inconsistent with the dominant actions referenced. Consequently, like the complex nature of social, economic, and cultural stereotypes, our 7 Insight Profiles are indications of dominant traits, but they are not exclusive of interpretation and overlap.

The Rulebreaker

Let’s start with the Rulebreaker. This person learns through friction—emotional, experiential, systemic. When rules feel unjust or irrelevant, the Rulebreaker doesn’t rebel for the sake of rebellion—they break things open. Insights come when they hit a wall, walk away, and deliberately bend or break an otherwise accepted rule of behavior to see a path no one else was willing to take. For them, insights and clarity arrive when conventional boundary become stepping stones to something beyond.

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Rulebreaker Types, Traits, and Figures

Rulebreakers tend to be ENTP and ESTP types. They tend to focus their attention externally (E), make decisions logically (T), and perceive the world flexibly (P). How they take in information (S or N) is secondary to the other traits.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Rulebreaker profile:

• Joan of Arc – Defied gender, social, and military norms to lead in battle
• Richard Branson – Built empires by challenging traditional business models

The Maverick

The Maverick is different. Insights for them live in frameworks, contradictions, unresolved tension. They dwell in complexity and extract clarity through strategic reframing. Their breakthroughs often arrive in moments of intellectual conflict—when systems don’t compute or paradigms collapse. The Maverick is a pattern-breaker through thought, not force. They look for a new path that nobody else even knew existed (and, maybe, it didn’t exist, until they discovered it.)

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Maverick Types, Traits, and Figures

Mavericks tend to be INTJ and INFJ types. They tend to focus their attention internally (I), take in information through intuition and abstraction (N), and deal with the world through structured judgement (J). How they make decisions (T or F) is secondary to the other traits.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Maverick profile:

• Carl Jung – Developed an entire psychological framework outside of mainstream science
• Steve Jobs – Visionary thinker who prioritized beauty, control, and belief in intuition over logic

The Builder

The Builder gets their insights the hard way—through repetition, testing, iteration. They learn by doing. Insights come not before action, but through action, expertise, and mastery. Insights are the product of stuckness addressed with determination. When a process fails, a system jams, or a product doesn't work—then, through intentionality, the breakthrough appears. For the Builder, insights are pragmatic. Tangible. Earned.

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Builder Types, Traits, and Figures

One group of Builders tends to be ISTJ and ESTJ, and ENTP types. They tend to take in information through detailed, concrete sensations (S), make decisions logically (T), and deal with the world through structured judgement (J). Where they focus their attention (E or I) is secondary to the other traits.

Another group of Builders tends to be ENTP types. They tend to focus their attention externally (E), take in information through intuition and abstraction (N), make decisions logically (T), and perceive the world flexibly (P). 

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Builder profile:

• Benjamin Franklin – Inventor, printer, self-taught polymath who built institutions without approval
• Oprah Winfrey – Created her own media empire by owning her platform from the start

The Nomad

Then there’s the Nomad—the sensor, the spatial learner. Their insights emerge through contrast: unfamiliar environments, unexpected calm, radical stillness. They tune into energy, rhythm, alignment. What works for others may not work for them, and they know it early. But they do not fear, but rather seek, exposure to new cultures, sights, experiences, and senses. Insights, for the Nomad, whether the objective or the consequence, are often a result of design—of life, work, and freedom itself.

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Nomad Types, Traits, and Figures

Nomads tend to be ENFP and ISFP types. They tend to make value-based decisions (F) and perceive the world flexibly (P). Where they focus their attention (E or I) and how they take in information (S or N) are secondary to the other traits.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Nomad profile:

• Amelia Earhart – Adventurer who embodied independence and bold personal leadership
• Anthony Bourdain – Global citizen, storyteller, and advocate for freedom of movement and perspective

The Hacker

The Hacker approaches clarity with surgical precision. They analyze structures—legal, financial, institutional—and detect invisible gaps. Misaligned incentives. Broken logic. Embedded advantage. They don’t shout their rebellion; they route around it. Or through it. Insights, for the Hacker, are about leverage—found in what others miss.

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Hacker Types, Traits, and Figures

Hackers tend to be INTP and ENTP types. They tend to take in information through intuition and abstraction (N), make decisions logically (T), and perceive the world flexibly (P). Where they focus their attention (E or I) is secondary to the other traits.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Hacker profile:

• Harriet Tubman – Operated entirely outside the system to free others from it
• Satoshi Nakamoto – Architect of Bitcoin, designed to sidestep centralized financial systems

The Networker

The Networker generates insights through conversation, connection, and collective tension. They listen deeply—not just to what’s said, but to what’s underneath. Their breakthroughs often arise in moments when a group is stuck, energy is low, or stories repeat themselves. They’re attuned to patterns—desires, actions, and reactions—in people. Insights show up through social dynamics, shared experiences, and subtle emotional resonance. The Networker doesn’t just build community—they translate its signals into meaning.

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Networker Types, Traits, and Figures

Networkers tend to be ENFJ and ESFJ types. They tend to focus their attention externally (E), make value-based decisions (F), and deal with the world through structured judgement (J). How they take in information (S or N) is secondary to the other traits.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Networker profile:

• Eleanor Roosevelt – Transformed the role of First Lady into one of leadership, policy, and service
• Yvon Chouinard – Patagonia founder who built a values-driven company around environmental stewardship

The Unbound

Finally, there’s the Unbound. Philosophical, open, and willing to let old frameworks fall apart, this profile welcomes insights that others avoid. For the Unbound, insights and clarity don’t come through speed or control—they arrive through surrender. They learn through reflection, solitude, and moments of personal or societal rupture. Crisis isn’t something to fix; it’s something to learn from. Their breakthroughs are often existential: shifts in worldview, identity, or the very nature of what they believe to be true. The Unbound doesn’t just think differently—they become different.

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Each of us may reflect more than one of these archetypes. But identifying your dominant patterns helps you become more intentional, if you want, about replicating the conditions that help you see clearly—gain insights—and lead others into clarity on their terms.

Unbound Types, Traits, and Figures

Unbounds tend to be INTJ, INTP, and INFJ types. They tend to focus their attention internally (E) and take in information through intuition and abstraction (N). While some Unbounds make decisions logically (T), others make value-based decisions (F). Also, while some Unbounds deal with the world through structured judgement (J), others deal with the world through structured judgement (J). It’s not surprising that our catch-all category potentially includes a broader mix of types than other Insight Profiles.

Here are a few examples of people who likely reflect the Unbound profile:

• Henry David Thoreau – Author of Civil Disobedience, focused on nature, self-reliance, and anti-institutional thought
• Paul Millerd – Author of The Pathless Path, independent writer, creator, and solopreneur who left a traditional consulting career to design a life based on freedom, experimentation, and enough

Part III: The Insightful Leader’s Toolkit

You need a plan for cultivating insights. This applies to you, whether you’re working individually, supporting a team, or in a leadership position.

"Good leaders make sense of change in the world...then impart that insight to the team."
- Dan Pena (American business man, 1945-)

Achieving insights isn’t about luck. It’s a craft. One you can refine, expand, and structure intentionally—not just for yourself, but for those you lead.

And the most effective leaders don’t just make better decisions—they see differently. They recognize subtle shifts before others do. They spot friction before it compounds. They find leverage where others see limits.

In a world drowning in noise, the leaders with the sharpest signals will shape the future.

Here’s how to become an Insightful Leader.

Master Your Insight Profile

Understand your signal before you try to scale it.

You can’t lead insightfully until you know how insight reaches you.

That means getting familiar with your own defaults: the environmental, emotional, and cognitive conditions that tend to precede your clearest thinking.

Start with a candid inventory of the times you’ve brought valuable insights to a situation. Look back at the past 5–10 meaningful shifts in your perspective or your team’s strategy. What do they have in common?

• Were you in motion or in stillness?
• Were you stuck or fluid?
• Were you alone or in conversation?
• Did the insight feel like friction, freedom, or both?

Map the conditions, trace the pattern, and tag the dominant Insight Profile: Builder, Maverick, Nomad, etc.

• Were you intentionally breaking rules? You might be a Rulebreaker.
• Were you trailblazing into new territory? You might be a Maverick.
• Were you doubling down on productive action? You might be a Builder.
• Were you immersing yourself in a new environment? You might be a Nomad.
• Were you hacking a conventional system? You might be a Hacker.
• Were you building community and consensus? You might be a Networker.
• Were you adapting to the situation? You might be an Unbound.

Your Insight Profile doesn’t just describe how you see what is in front of you—it defines how you begin to see new information that was previously unseen, and transform that new information into new actions.

Design for Insights

Insight is unpredictable—but not uncontrollable.

The mistake most leaders make is trying to schedule around deadlines. But insight doesn’t happen on a calendar. It happens in conditions.

To lead with insight, you need to optimize your routines, environments, and workflows to support the emergence of new perspectives.

Here’s how:

• Margin is a prerequisite for perception, so protect cognitive slack. Eliminate “noise fill” between tasks.
• Design structured divergence. Read outside your field. Talk to people who think differently. Change your pace and external inputs regularly.
• Revisit friction. Don’t rush to solve tension. Sit in it. Walk with it. Let your subconscious reorder the problem.
• Apply constraints after space. First allow wandering, then shape it. This sequencing is the birthplace of clarity. Repeat this cycle, as needed.

And once insight arrives?

Memorialize it.

Use a personal system to record, review, and reflect—so patterns can be detected and reactivated later.

Tools could include:

• A private “Insight Journal”
• A recurring end-of-week Insight Review
• A shared team practice like “Insight Rounds”

Create Your Insight Signature

The most impactful leaders are “pattern reactors.”

Once you understand how insight comes to you—and once you’ve designed around that—you can take the final step:

Make it replicable. Not in the sense of formula, but as an internal method. A personal pattern. A signature style.

This is your Insight Signature—the way you consistently receive, name, and act on insights with precision. It’s how you tune into your own signal while remaining responsive to new ones.

It might sound like:

• “I step back before I push forward.”
• “When something doesn’t make sense, I stop writing until it does.”
• “Every time I feel stuck, I take a walk, reframe the question, and call a contrarian.”

Over time, this becomes your insight loop—your internal method of moving from friction to reflection to clarity to action. Adapt this concept of a loop to your own Insight Profile and designed environment. 

And when others start to trust you—not because you're always right, but because you're consistently insightful—that’s when leadership deepens.

Final Thought: Insight Is the Quiet Edge

Strategy fades. Playbooks get copied. But clear perception, reliably accessed, is a permanent competitive advantage.

To lead insightfully is not to be the loudest. It’s to see the furthest and be the clearest about what you see.

So, master your lens. Design your environment. Create your Insight Signature.
And build your leadership not on force—but on insights.

References

1. Kounios & Beeman (2014). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight
2. Oppezzo & Schwartz (2014). Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking, Stanford
3. Zedelius & Schooler (2016). The Richness of Inner Experience
4. Rosso, B. D. (2014). Constraints and Creativity in R&D Teams, Journal of Organizational Behavior
5. Harvard Business Review (2019). How Constraints Drive Innovation