Data is not facts: the impossibility of being unbiased
Best intentions We talk a lot about making decisions based on data but we need to be careful about how hard and fast those decisions are. Our decisions are only as good as our data and our analysis. Neither can be perfect. Data is always a sample of the full scope of reality and analytics is always an interpretation of that sample. We need to be cognizant of the differences between Opinions, Facts and Conclusions. And, just as important, we need to recognize the relationship
Data Entry Team not Users
Error between keyboard and screen A big source of poor data quality is data entry. A stubborn issue that is hard to address. Why is that? While there are many mechanisms and types of errors I would argue that the main obstacle to solving all of them is a fundamental flaw in the way we approach the users of our systems. Though it may not be their official role, from the perspective of data analytics and reporting we need to recognize that our business users are not so much
Ain't nothing but a C thing, baby...(and A and R too)
It's like this and like that and like this Your data is a mess. Your analytics is wilting on the vine, starving for lack of effective data. As quickly as you clean data, more issues pop up. You find your reporting team continually having to rework reports to deal with odd cases that are jacking your data. It's difficult to be data driven with poor data quality and limited capacity, budget, and time. Sound familiar? All data-driven organizations, regardless of industries o
Good enough is good enough but what is good enough?
Not Just a Buzzword "Analytics". We know that it is more than just a buzzword but too often we cannot realize it's promise. Why is it that all the budget and time we dedicate towards predicative analytics, BI, big data, etc does not always yield tangible benefits to the organization? There could be many reasons but I would argue it is not necessarily because there is anything wrong with your analytics per se. You could be using the right tools, and have staff with the righ
