Institutional research in UK higher education is rarely consolidated into a central office function. This is in marked comparison to the position of IR in the USA where most universities accord it a high status which is absent from the UK context. The collection, analysis and interpretation of data in the USA appears, on the whole, more systematic than is the case in the UK. As a consequence, IR is probably more effective and efficient in assisting institutions to "know themselves" and hence to focus activities to optimal purpose. In this paper the authors characterise and codify the different IR functions that can be applied to resolve institutional questions that universities face in their attempt to be more nimble and effective with respect to known knowns and known unknowns while preparing them to be ready for the inevitable unknown unknowns. As higher education in the UK becomes ever more competitive, the potential of IR and of self-knowledge becomes increasingly important to ensure survival and success. (Contains 2 figures.)