The Last Mile of Analytics
Superweek 2020
Michael Helbling
AJL Analytics
The Last Mile
The Problem is Real
We struggle to implement data collection that enables the organization.
We labor intensely to transform data into information and then into insights and recommendations.
We think hard about how best to present analysis.
Disagree
Discounted
Disparaged
We teach a Data Viz and Storytelling Skillset
Source: @BusinessJarrad on Twitter.
Play the Person Not the Cards
Focus on the people or the team, and develop skills and systems for understanding and impacting them positively.
There is Science That Can Help
The Brain
The Brain is… Troublesome
The brain is made more for fit than it is for truth.
We are not rational decision makers.
Just look at the current thinking around ML/AI for a real world connection to this point.
Source: Pinker, Steven. How The Mind Works. WW Norton, 1997.
We Connect to What We Know
If we grasp something with ease we like it and think it is more valid.
If we have a personal or local connection to that data we like it more and believe in it’s validity more.
Source: Cialdini, Robert. Pre-suasion. Simon & Schuster, 2016.
Source: Peck, Evan, Ayuso, Sofia, El-Etr, Omar. Data is Personal: Attitudes and Perceptions of Data Visualizations in Rural Pennsylvania. 2019
We Love a Good Story
We tend to be the heroes of our own story and we will tend to subjugate facts to that narrative
The most successful story type:
Man in a Hole
Source: Storr, Will. The Science of Storytelling. William Collins, 2019
This is Why Tim’s Talk Was So Important
Emotional Intelligence and Empathy
Who F&%#ING Named Them Soft Skills?
Term can be traced back to the US Military in the 1960’s
If they are soft why are they so hard for most people?
Knowing how to use a sword is a hard skill, knowing when to use it is a soft skill.
Emotional Intelligence
Self Awareness
Self Regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social Skills
System: What Am I Feeling Right Now?
Having Very Negative Feelings. What Are They?
Like I should be further along
Like I should have closed more business
Like people don't like me or that I will disappoint people in a negotiation
Being disagreeable is really hard
Afraid.
I feel afraid that people won't like me?
Afraid that I am not doing enough to be successful.
Afraid that I can't be successful.
Afraid.
Accept the Emotions
It is ok that these emotions are happening.
It is not possible to stop emotions. If you stop having them congratulations you are a sociopath.
Emotion is normal it is what you do because of an emotion that needs management.
Choose Your Action
Make the right choice about what to do next.
By being aware of and accepting of your own emotions you actually give yourself the opportunity to choose alternatives.
PS - That negotiation I was afraid of, they are now a client.
Ok Moving Over to Others
By simply practicing those steps you not only get to know yourself much better, but you increase your empathy for others.
And by processing emotions you are more enabled to engage in healthy conflict.
Understanding others better results in increased ability to influence decision making.
System: The Six Hat Method
An exercise meant to help you view something from multiple perspectives
Source: De Bono, Edward. Six Thinking Hats. Little, Brown and Co, 1985
Blue Hat: Process and Controls
Black Hat: Why won’t this work? Negatives and risk identification
Red Hat: Emotional response and reaction
Green Hat: Creativity and ideation
White Hat: Focus on the data available and hard information
Yellow Hat: Optimism and benefits
But We Can Use it To Learn About Others
Using the six hat method, keep track of which hat is a default for stakeholders.
Over time you can develop a nice understanding of their natural decision making “hat”, and start to leverage that in your storytelling.
Decisions
Decision Process View
Step1: The Goal
Step 2: Estimate uncontrollable inputs
Step 3: Resources and abilities
Step 4: Choices available
Step 5: Understand interactions
Step 6: Take action
Source: Prof. Hossain Arsham, University of Baltimore
Complexity Reduces Rationality
As decision complexity increases our rational approach to decision making is severely tested.
Stress and other externalities impact rational decision making as well.
What Makes a Good Decision Maker
This Game Always Has New Levels
Every great decision will spawn a new more difficult set of decisions.
If we didn’t want a great challenge we wouldn’t be in Analytics
Ok Let’s Synthesize
As analysts we need a seat at the table because our analysis is valuable
By Understanding decision making, the brain, and emotion in context we unlock capabilities that maximize the value of our other skills.
It’s time for something new...
Introducing...
A new discipline in the field of Analytics
P.R.O.
(persuasion rate optimization)
We Need to Standardize Our Capabilities
All too often we leave to personality and chance the skills that will make us successful.
By creating a category we enable people to have a tangible connection to a very crucial process of understanding and growth.
Analysts Are Well Suited For This Work
You merely adopted the uncertainty, but we were born in it.
And There Are Already Tools
Core Sciences - Team Personality Tool
Core Sciences - Team Personality Tool
Don’t you want to be a
P.R.O.
Thank You…
And Keep Analyzing!