Struggling to get value out of analytics?

In my conversations with my clients I hear the following phrases a lot:

• "Too much data"
• "Not sure what to look at"
• "Big data is a challenge"
• "Social network analysis is the only thing we care about"
• "Can I integrate everything with everything?"
• "We need to tap into mobile data"
• "This sounds excellent, but I'm not sure how I could use this"

When I hear these things I feel just as follows:

 and only reason for this is because such companies are going 80 miles per hour and want to go 120 miles per hour in near future - only problem no one is bothered about where there are going so fast.

How to change this situation?

• Build good communication highways in the company: The biggest issue that I see with organizations is that they do not have enough knowledge about what the smartest guys at the top think and thus do not know where the business is going. In fact, every manager who has a budget for anything in the organization should know the priorities of the company and what those priorities translate to at their level. This will ensure that they get best of the value from the budgets they spend.
  
• Build an analytics team that has weight age & data savvy employees: If you are on the bandwagon of being a data driven company then you have to ensure that you value data. Just having a big data platform/analytics platfrom/predictive analytics platform is no good. In most companies the management never cares to ask for data (other than financial data) to make decisions. Also, the analytics managers either do not know the strategic objectives of each level so that they can promote data driven decisions by providing the right data or they are just too timid to voice the stories that find out of the data. So it is very critical for higher management to emphasize the value of analytics in a way that people take "data people" seriously.
  
• Hire communicators(story tellers) and not pure statistics people: One of the trend across industry is that people do not use data because they find it hard to understand. This creates a void between stats people and people on the ground executing things. Its absolutely necessary for the analytics team to build a story telling skills set. If they cant take their data analysis and simplify it to a level where they could use the gist to tell a bedtime story to their kids then its too complicated.
  
• Build repeatability: Often repeatability is misconstrued to be process. People who equate repeatability and process have it wrong. Process is a way to take away decision making capability away from the agents involved in the transaction. Repeatability on the other hand is a way for having a framework for making decisions regardless of the scenario. It is thus important for management to facilitate a way of working where resources responsible for tasks know the boundaries/constraints within which they can make decisions and approvals or involvement from other groups is required if they are to cross the boundaries. This enables creativity at individual level and increases efficiency. Repeatability framework need not only to be vertical but also horizontal in organizations.

Having  the above four capabilities will bring you to a level where you will start moving along a right direction. Analytics will then not be defined or limited to the capabilities and reports that a particular vendor can provide.

To summarize, if everyone in your organization should know where they are going as an organization and their contribution, and learns to ask two questions "So What?" and "What Next?"

President Hideo Yoshida's Ten Spartan Rules

I am reading "The Denstu Way" and the first paragraph talks about the ten rules one of Dentsu's president had. His name was Hideo Yoshida (http://www.dentsu.com/about/summary/history/p1947-1.html)

His ten rules are that every people manager can tell his team. With these rules and boundaries for playing ground which the team members should not cross it will be really easy to build a high performing thing.

So here are the rules:

1. Initiate projects on your own instead of waiting for work to be assigned.
2. Take an active role in all your endeavors, not a passive one.
3. Search for a large and complex challenge
4. Welcome difficult assignments. Progress lies in accomplishing difficult work.
5. Once you begin a task, complete it. Never give up.
6. Lead and set an example for your fellow workers.
7. Set goals for yourself to ensure constant sense of purpose.
8. Move with confidence. It gives your work force and substance.
9. At all times challenge yourself to think creatively and find new solution.
10. When confrontation is necessary dont shy away from it.

Observations about life

• Do the 'Right Thing'. If can't figure out what the 'right thing' is, pretend you had to tell your parents or your favorite teacher about your decision. If you would feel uncomfortable telling them, it is probably not the 'right thing'.
• Surround yourself with people that challenge you. Surround yourself with creative people.
• "You know what you know and you dont know what you dont know; that is knowledge" - Confucius. 
• "The true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we dont know what to do," John Holt
• The person who doesnt know much , is usually not humble. The person who knows a lot, is always humble.
• Do what you love. Life is easier when you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.
• Change is good.
• The 2 biggest reasons that businesses(or any other endeavor for that matter) fail are ego and greed.
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
• You dont learn by talking; you learn by listening. Corollary 1: The meanest thing you can do to someone is to not listen when they talk. Corollary 2: There are at least 2 sides to every story. Don't react until you hear all sides. Corollary 3: Overreacting always causes mistakes.
• If you never consider failure, you will always succeed. Corollary: It is not a failure to not reach goals; it is a failure to give up on them. The biggest risk is not taking a risk.
• It is not the mistakes that define the person, but the recoveries.
• You are only as good as the pack you run with.
• Save 10% of your salary. If you can't, you are living beyond your means.
• Every successful person (regardless of how success is defined) has a mentor. Find a person that you respect and trust and emulate them.
• Life is journey marked by good and bad events. There are births, weddings and graduations, but there also deaths, divorces and job losses. We yearn to have period of relative calm and certainty, during which there is no change and we have the opportunity to get into a groove and enjoy life, concentrating on the here and now. But we dont get them. If all we got were good events, that would be fine, but we also get plenty of bad, and they rattle us, tire us and make us yearn for calm.
• The sky is not falling. "This is just a test; if this were a real emergency, you'd be dead." God.
• Most people are inherently good. If you look for the bad in people, you will surely find it, at the risk of never being able to - nor wanting to - see the good. It is a self - fulfilling prophecy.
• You can't automate a process you cant do manually.
• People will work harder to fix a problem if they take part in recommending and implementing a solution.
• Much of life is happenstance.
• Luck is the best thing you can have in a life. I'll take good luck over good management any day. The hard part is recognizing and taking advantage of good luck. Corollary: You make your own luck.
• Spread good karma. Greet all people with a cheerful face. Do good deeds for anyone and everyone.
• Be positive. Smile a lot - it makes everyone else around you feel better, and you'll feel better, too. Do good deeds for anyone and everyone.
• "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Hellen Keller
• "All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy. All misery comes from the desire for oneself to be happy." - Shantideva, (7th Century), India.
• Visit other countries and cultures. It will increase your understanding of other people and yourself.
• "As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life." - Buddha
• "If you think too much, you get all mixed up," John W. Pratt, Harvard Business School Professor.
• Never work just for money or for power. They wont save your soul or help you sleep at night.
• You can't tell a book by its cover.
• Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
• The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
• Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
• Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.
• Always communicate.
• Confront conflicts (but rationally)
• Dont let money determine all of your life decisions
• Care about other people
• Give people the benefit of the doubt
• First impressions have the largest impacts
• No matter how many people agree on a solution, there is almost always a better alternative.
• You cant successfully sky dive without the support of a parachute
• Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
• Honesty is the best policy!
• Set expectations right(be it in personal life or professional). Know what you expect from others, from the job/relation and what others expect from you.
• When in doubt, be simple, frank and communicate.
• Do onto others what you would expect others to do unto you!
• Take care to be kind to those that are in positions supporting yours, i.e. secretaries, IT staff, doorman, valets etc.
• "I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating" is a quote by Sophocles which I think implies a lot.
• Creativity will always help in some way.

15 Steps to Fulfilling Your Wildest Dreams

According to Bill Gates there are 3 keys to success in any new venture:

1. Being in the right place at the right time. (You could well be already there!)
2. Have a vision of where the industry/business you're working in its going!
3. Taking massive and immediate action! (It is time to act!)

"The future belongs to those who believe in the quality of their dreams." Was it Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the famous German poet and philosopher who said those wise words?

Here are the 15 steps to fulfilling wildest dreams...

1) Know Yourself

Know and accept your weakness and faults (we all have them), but even more so your strengths, abilities and gift. Build on your strengths and try to minimize or improve on your weakness. An honest, objective analysis of yourself is the first step in preparing you for success and realizing your dreams. Celebrate you for just being you, a unique creation.

Aim for mental clarity about what you most want out of life. Think about it and write it down. If it's happiness, what do you mean by happiness: a sense of belonging, recognition, independence, love, money or security? If you don't know where you are and where you want to go with your life, how will you ever get there? Aim at nothing and you're sure to hit it.

2) Get Passionate

Don't apologize for getting passionate. What excites you the most? If you are not enthusiastic and excited about what you're doing, your path in life, you'll never get others to share your dream. Once you find your passion, you will have found your POWER, MEANING and PURPOSE in life.

3) Surround Yourself With Positive Passion

Always be aware. Negative people will poison your dream faster than anything else. Motto: "If you can't be positive, shut up!" Try and stay positive ... even in the face of negativity.

4) Accept From The Start That You Wont Please Everyone

You're going to be misunderstood, misquoted, hurt some feelings, perhaps even lose some friends (for the time being). Motto: "What other people think of me is none of my business!" Repeat this statement to yourself, especially when you doubt or feel discouraged.

5) Always Be Yourself

To thine own self be true. (Shakespeare's "Hamlet", act I.3.) This is supremely important, no matter what the world may think of you. The masses are conditioned to mediocrity and other people's success can make them not feel inferior for their own insignificant little lives. Accept yourself. Learn from others -- but don't be intimidated by them, or pretend be someone you're not; because ... "We are most effective when we're being ourselves."

6) Dont Be Scare Of Making Mistakes

The only real mistake is one from which you learn nothing. Motto: "Far better to try something and fail, than try nothing and succeed!"

7) Accept That It Will Never Be Easy

Realizing your dream may be the hardest, most uphill thing you'll ever do. A truth... "You can't coast uphill." The key ingredient in success is never giving up. Keep on keeping on with your quest. It has been said that "success is 99% made up of failures."

8) Stay Humble (No matter how successful you may be)

Dont ever think you've made it and arrived -- there's always a lot ahead, more to do, higher mountains to climb. Motto: "The greatest way to do our thing has yet to be discovered!"

9) Dont Underestimate Yourself

There is incredible power in yourself (in the form of the unique human mind), but far more so in the forces of the Universe. Make them work for you by living your life in harmony with these natural forces. Like positive energy attracts like. Enough "spiritual" thoughts! Back to the "real world" and you. Avoid developing an inferiority complex (Who am I, a "nothing?"). Don't be filled with feelings of self-pity ("nobody likes me"), or think "I cant do it." These thoughts will steal your dream.

10) Have Fun

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems -- don't get to solemn, or serious or too downcast when things go wrong (as they surely will from time to time). Take a lead from Thomas Edison's book: "I never did a day's work in my entire life: It was all FUN!" Laugh at life's funny moments... and there are plenty of them. "The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does." - J.M. Barrie

11) Develop 'The Will To Live"

There will be plenty of times when you'll face the death of your dream. When failures, disappointments, and criticisms come you need the will and faith to keep going. Remember: We learn far more from our failures than our successes, because failures show us what doesnt work. So, failure is just one step closer to ultimate success. Often the difference between failure and success is trying just one more time, picking yourself up off the canvas after being knocked down time and again.

12 Develop "The Will To Help And Serve Others"

Success on its own (i.e., for its own sake) will pollute and corrupt you -- it's dead end street unless you have meaning in your life. The years of struggle breed fortitude and character. The gold may be an inch away from the saem, where your fellow miners have given up. You need to succeed for a reason, a purpose, a cause that's bigger than you! and IF (a very big if) you've fulfilled all the above requirements... 

By the time you finish reading this you will realize its just 12 steps and not 15

Stress Free in 10 Minutes

1. Do Nothing
At least once during the day, take 5-10 minutes to sit quietly and do nothing. Focus on the sounds around you. Your emotions and any tensions in your neck, shoulders, arms, chest, etc.

2. Laugh Out Loud
Keep something handy that makes you laugh. It could be a collection of your favorite comic strips, of a funny email from, say, your child or a friend. You could even take a few moments to think watching your favorite comedy serial. Turn to this every so often during your day.

3. Tune In
When you face a daunting task, playing soothing music - be it classical, county or jazz. AT work you can use the CD drive on your computer to keep the music at the ready.

4. Think Happy
Focus on someone or something you care deeply about for anywhere from 15 seconds to 5 minutes. Or picture a scene from a peaceful vacation. A phrase that makes you feel positive about yourself and the world can also work.

5. Hit The Road
Get up from your desk, the couch - wherever you may be - and take a 10 minute walk.

6 Breathe Easy
For 5 minutes, slow your breathing down to about 6 deep-belly breaths a minute. In other words, inhale for about 5 seconds, exhale for about 5.

7 Rise Relaxed
Right before bed and after the alarm goes of in the morning, take 5 minutes to relax your entire body. Start by tensing your toes; consciously relax them. Move on to the muscles in your feet, and then your calves, upper legs, move upwards until you end by scrunching up and then relaxing the muscles in your face.

Funny Anecdote - You are always in my thoughts

An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. the old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:

Dear Son, 

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I wont be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time.

I'm just getting too old to be digging up the garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you werent in prison.

Love,
Dad

Shortly, the old man received this telegram:
"For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!"

At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers showed up and dug up the garden without finding any guns.

Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next. His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plan your potatoes, Dad... Its the best I could do for you from here"

No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart you can do it. It is the thought that matters not where you are or where the person is.

Know your ABCs

Avoid negative sources-people, places, things and habits

Believe in yourself

Consider things from every angle

Dont give up and dont give in

Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow may not come

Family and friends are hidden treasures seek & enjoy their riches

Give more than you planned to give

Hang on to your dreams

Ignore those who try to discourage you

Just do it!

Keep on trying. No matter how hard it seems, it will get easier

Love yourself first and most

Make it happen

Never lie, cheat or steal. Always strike a fair deal

Open your eyes and see things as they really are

Practice makes perfect

Quitters never win and winners never quit

Read, study and learn about everything important in your life

Stop procrastinating

Take control of your own destiny

Understand yourself in order to better understand others

Visualize it

Want it more than anything

eXel at doing your best

You can do anything you set out to do

Zero in on your target and go for it!