The Silent Disco: Grooving on Customer Insights
At Room 214, we brought the "silent disco" concept into our Growth Studio. It's a fun part of our process.

by James Clark

What is a Silent Disco?
A room full of people dancing to nothing.
People dance to music on wireless headphones. Those without headphones hear no music.
Individual Listening
Each person focuses on what's most important to them.
Collective Grooving
Together, a sense of coherence forms.
How the Silent Disco Works
The insights team conducts customer interviews. The team listens to an interview together with headphones.
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Interviews
Insights team conducts customer interviews.
2
Headphones On
Team listens to an interview together.
3
Unique Perspectives
Everyone "hears" different things based on knowledge.
Different teams interpret customer insights through unique lenses, revealing the multifaceted nature of organizational understanding.
Diverse Perspectives
Creatives hear emotion. The product team hears innovation. The sales team hears channel opportunities.
Creatives
Hear grand vistas and emotion.
Product Team
Focus on innovation.
Sales Team
Identify channel opportunities.
Cognitive Diversity
Most organizations limit customer data to the insights team. One person cannot "hear" everything.
Harvard Business Review: Teams solve problems faster when they’re more cognitively diverse.
1
Multiple Perspectives
Bring in experts for dimension.
2
Contradiction
Consider different viewpoints.
The Power of Connection
Value isn’t created by filling a slot, it’s created by connection.
Seth Godin: Connection leads to ideas, solutions, and breakthroughs.
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1
Connection
2
2
Ideas
3
3
Solutions
4
4
Breakthroughs
Sharing Perspectives
Each participant shares what they heard from their area of expertise. They share what they found interesting.
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Expertise
Share from your domain.
2
Interesting
Highlight key points.
3
Surprising
Reveal unexpected insights.
The Silent Disco: A Connection Point
The Silent Disco connects the team. It connects clients and the growth studio.
Team Connection
Brings the team together.
Client Alignment
Connects with clients.
Shared Vision
Creates a shared vision.
Instructions
At the same time we are all going to listen to the audio:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WPYqlqxBxQf8M6oxAoon7xTnmKXXNXQb/view?usp=sharing
  • Make notes of what you found interesting, and timestamp it in case we want to go back and listen
  • Write down what you "heard" from the perspective of the role in your company.
  • Any ideas it sparked?
  • Any considerations and/or impact for the work you're currently doing?
  • Round Robin Share - each person gets 3 minutes
  • Take notes on what you heard each person say, notate what resonated with you
  • Lightning round of sharing feedback on other's insights