#9 - New Year, New Style, New Gems
1 thinking principle, 1 strategic advice, 1 operational tip and 1 impact story for data leaders
As someone who likes a bit of everything, I realised data is the perfect domain for me. There are opportunities, and requirements, to learn a lot: decision-making, business strategy, communication, technology, security, user experience, etc. To be exceptional, I’d argue that you need to know epistemology, logical thinking, induction and deduction as well.
It’s fun to expand my horizon to so many different disciplines and find knowledge in unexpected places. That’s why starting from this year, Data & Beyond Dispatch will bring you a bit of every piece. Think of it like a 4-course tasting menu at the restaurant of Data Excellence:
Think more clearly with This Week’s Principle
Be more visionary with This Week’s Strategy
Be more productive with This Week’s Operation
Get inspired with This Week’s Impact
I love This Week’s Wisdom corner - a philosophical guide for rational data leaders, yet I’ll save it as the Chef’s Special. If you don’t want to miss when it comes out, please subscribe:
Let’s dive in!
This Week’s Principle
Use default-thinking for decision making in level 1 and 2 problems
There are three levels of business problems (see more in Farnam Street blog):
A clear-enough future with a relatively predictable business environment.
Alternative futures with a set of options available.
High level of uncertainty, with no understanding of the problem.
The first two levels can be solved using the default-thinking method, which is hypothesis-driven, structured and can be assisted by quantitative analysis.
The third-level problems are the most difficult, but also rare. They are the Black Swans. To cope with them, data can indirectly help in some ways (but not in predicting the future). At the same time, out-of-box thinking and fail-fast mindset are the most effective antidotes.
This Week’s Strategy
You don’t need a data strategy, do you? (link)
“Does Facebook have a digital strategy or a data strategy? I don’t think so. It has a strategy for which ‘digital’ and ‘data’ are integral components.
…
If you think you need content, data, digital, partner, growth, or sustainability, go back to your business strategy and build the features of these ‘strategy’ categories into your fundamental business strategy choice. If you attempt to bolt them onto your previously determined business strategy, a competitor that has integrated them will likely outperform you.” - Roger Martin, Strategy, Strategy Everywhere.
This Week’s Operation
How to create data visualisation that saves live - a 19th century example (link)
Long before computer was invented, data visualisation had been used to assist in problem-solving. In 1854, amid the deadly London cholera pandemic, an English doctor - John Snow - used data visualisation to created the Ghost Map to observe the geographical location of infections in London. Though simplistic, the map powerfully and effortlessly led to the discovery that contaminated water in London was the reason for the outbreak.
When used correctly, a simple data visualisation activity can lead to remarkable breakthrough. The Ghost Map demonstrated many principles of good design:
Show comparison (between less and more infected areas)
Show causality (between the infection rate and the geographical location)
Use multivariate data (consisting of number of cases, location and distances)
Fully integrate elements of the visualisation (using distinctive labels and colours for streets, buildings and locations of interest)
Establish credibility (by demonstrating that the data was directly collected from patients)
Focus on content (with cases and locations being the focus of a simple map)
Data visualisation should be intentional, with every details carefully selected to highlight the insights. The legendary Edward Tufte couldn’t say it better:
“The best graphics are about the useful and important, about life and death, about the universe. Beautiful graphics do not traffic with the trivial.” - The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd Ed.
This Week’s Impact
Big Data for Small Business - How sensors and whether data helped a local butcher thrived (link)
It’s remarkable how even small businesses can collect and utilise big data to their advantage. A local butcher business - Pendleton & Sons- had drawn more customers to their stores, invented new products and increased their revenue, all thanks to big data.
Facing with reducing foot traffics in the neighbourhood, Pendleton & Sons turned to data to resolve their stagnating revenue problem. The idea: installing sensors placed outside the store window to monitor customer’s reaction towards different messaging.
The results pointed the butchers to menu suggestions and recipes, rather than price, as the most effective content to display. It also led them to use more data to enhance their content strategy by using weather to assist recipe selection. The sensors data also uncovered an untapped demand from the late-night crowd going to the pub in the weekend, which led to the additional offerings of mid-night snack (i.e. pulled pork burger with chorizo). The butchers had become more relevant for their customers, and they continued to delight their fans with the assistance of data.
That’s it for this week! If you enjoy or get puzzled by the content, please leave a comment so we can continue the discussion. Throw in a like as well if you enjoy the change :)