7 Must-Reads for Insights Professionals Who Think Like Social Scientists

In a world increasingly driven by data, the most powerful insights are often psychological, not just statistical. For insights professionals who view their work through the lens of behavioral science and narrative meaning-making, understanding how people make sense of the world is just as important as understanding what they do.

The following seven books offer fresh, provocative, and highly practical perspectives on human behavior, storytelling, metaphor, meaning, and the mechanics of communication. Whether you’re an insights manager, a brand strategist, or just a curious thinker looking to elevate your practice, these books will expand your toolkit — and your worldview.

1. Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas by John Pollack

Why metaphor is more than just a figure of speech

Pollack’s Shortcut is an essential read for anyone responsible for transferring insight from one mind into another. The book explores the power of metaphor and analogy as cognitive tools — the bridges we use to carry unfamiliar ideas into familiar territory.

For insights professionals, this is especially relevant: we often operate in a space where we must translate complex, nuanced behaviors into meaningful narratives. Understanding the metaphors your audience already uses, and those that will resonate most, is key to communicating insights that stick and inspire action.

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2. Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits by Debbie Millman

Perspectives from the people who shape what brands mean

Millman’s collection of interviews with marketers, designers, and thinkers — including a memorable exchange with Malcolm Gladwell — is both wide-ranging and refreshingly candid.

Gladwell’s take, in particular, reflects a deep truth: everyone has an idea of what a brand is, but no one really agrees on a definition. That tension is fertile ground for insights professionals, especially those tasked with illuminating the intangible — perceptions, feelings, and expectations — that surround a brand.

If your work touches brand meaning, this book offers a rare opportunity to step into the minds of those who’ve shaped some of the world’s most influential ones.

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3. A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger

Because better questions lead to deeper insights

Berger’s book is a celebration of curiosity and a practical guide to developing better questions — the kind that open minds, not just check boxes. It’s an indispensable read for anyone in research or strategy.

The book moves beyond the “how” of inquiry and digs into the “why” — helping readers construct questions that surface opportunities, not just opinions. For insights professionals, this means unlocking richer data, deeper stories, and more transformational ideas.

It’s not just about asking questions — it’s about asking better ones.

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4. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

On the myth-making nature of humanity

While not written for marketers or researchers, Sapiens is perhaps one of the most powerful books on human behavior available today. Harari’s argument — that much of human society is built on shared fictions — should resonate deeply with anyone studying consumer narratives.

Brands, markets, even money — Harari reminds us — are all constructed stories that only work because people collectively believe in them. For insight professionals, this reinforces the need to understand the stories people tell themselves about identity, culture, and value. Not just what people do, but why it makes sense to them.

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5. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari

Information, trust, and the architecture of belief

Nexus offers a natural companion to Sapiens, focusing not on stories, but on how information travels, who controls it, and how people decide what to trust.

In an era where insights professionals are often the ones responsible for guiding how information is interpreted inside organizations, Harari’s exploration of information networks becomes incredibly relevant. It’s a book that will help you think more deeply about the flow of insights, how they gain traction, and what makes them credible — or ignored.

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6. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall 

Why stories shape us — and what that means for research

Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal is one of the most accessible and enjoyable introductions to narrative psychology available. Through vivid examples and approachable prose, he makes a compelling case: humans are wired for story.

For insights professionals, this book is a gentle but powerful reminder that people don’t just tell stories — they are stories. Everything from memory to identity is structured narratively. Understanding how and why people tell the stories they do is key to interpreting behavior and building more resonant insights.

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7. The Things We Love: How Our Passions Connect Us and Make Us Who We Are by Aaron Ahuvia , PhD 

On the psychology of our relationships with objects

Ahuvia’s recent book is a fascinating exploration of how and why we form emotional attachments to the things in our lives — from the mundane to the meaningful.

For anyone working in brand or consumer research, this book offers a deeply relevant lens on object attachment, love, and the subtle psychology of product affinity. Ahuvia’s insights challenge us to look beyond preference and toward relationship — a critical distinction for any professional trying to understand how brands and products become embedded in people’s identities.

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Final Thoughts

These books aren’t just good reads — they’re bridges between the worlds of data and meaning, behavior and belief, cognition and culture. They reflect a shared truth at the heart of modern insights work: to understand people, we must understand their stories.

For insights professionals grounded in the social sciences, these titles offer more than perspective — they offer tools for better listening, better questioning, and ultimately, better understanding.