When does an innovator gets an "Insight"? This sketch has the answer.

IDEO's Tim Brown sketched this diagram to talk about the emotional states of researchers in the design process, who are trying to make sense of collected material.

The graph alternates between feeling +ve and -ve. His point? Insight is often found at the lowest ebb of the feeling, taking you from hope to confidence.

As you drown in data, you move from the high of what felt like being useful at first, but as the complexity of it hits you, your optimism decays.

That's where you need to stay strong, willing the insights out of hiding.

This is also true of most explorations in innovation and life. Do you agree?