(Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 of this Psychology of Analytics series.)
Big Data & Analytics have a sort of “tomorrow” connation. Which means that when you invest, you have to wait a significant amount of time for your investment to bear fruit. Often with Cloud or Business Intelligence, you can seek out and get instant gratification. Big Data & Analytics have that, “Take a deep breath, hire twenty people, come up with a loose vision of what you want, and then start coding. Stir. Check in on them after two weeks. Code. Stir. Repeat.”
In some ways this is true, but there are some tangible things you can do to get results now. For example, looking for ‘positive auditing’ opportunities.
What is ‘positive auditing’? It is building a solution that shows your success formula. For every company, partner, and/or customer there is an E = mc2 theory of relativity. It’s a simplified formula that the guts of is incredibly complex, but always shows the triggers that creates a success. This type of implementation takes less than 45 days and uses analytics to show visualization patterns in the data. Also, when you expose the success pattern, the company becomes more self-aware which allows for creating correct messaging and finding focus on niche markets based on those that use their services and offerings presently. In the end, this type of implementation generates revenue almost immediately.
While working in South Africa, I used to hear a phrase that confused me as an American and it was, “Now now.” Which means its important, but it’s in the future. Think of it as an indefinite later. And yes, there is also the phrase that says, “Now.” Which means I will do it immediately.
As Big Data & Analytics evolves away from hype and moves more into tangible results, there is a huge push for ‘now’ implementations. Vision and future state take a back seat to doing something quickly to show that there is a payoff.
However, “now now” and “now” are interdependent. Again, you might want to read that sentence again. It means focusing only on today, you could lose tomorrow.
I was interviewing for a job where the job description centered on Big Data & Analytics and the title was Business Developer and Technology Evangelist. During the interview, the interview questions toggled back and forth between technical expertise and present business market conditions. However, when the discussion turned to where the market is going and what is next year’s big revenue generating trend, they were quick to stop the discussion.
“An evangelist should be rooted in the present only,” they said. I disagreed. To build the future, you must seek out present conditions that fuel you to prognosticate and create something that doesn’t yet exist that will be desired.
But I get it. Present pays the bills. However, it doesn’t win market share nor inspire your customers and partners to invest in you for the long term.
Using ‘positive auditing’ will help you find your strengths and weaknesses, but it will not show you where you need to go to create your next success pattern.
The future takes 75% inspiration, 10% of understanding present market conditions and 15% of technology know-how.
In short, “now now” should always begin now.
Also check out Part 1: The Psychology of Analytics - Right with People
Article written by Gary Jackson
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