
When Familiarity Fails Us Paid Members Public
Sunday night, flying back to London from Hong Kong, I read a piece in the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/business/boeing-737-max-crash.html] on the development of the Boeing 737 MAX, the model that was involved in the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash. What made this

Bad Questions and Sad Analysts Paid Members Public
If there is one thing analysts dread hearing, it is “can you quickly pull some numbers on vague metric?” often followed by “it would be great if you can stick it in a chart showing how this is increasing.” Sometimes this will even lead to a request for a dashboard.

Reflection on My First Ten Posts Paid Members Public
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to run at least 20 km per week. Strava [https://www.strava.com/] tells me I am currently going to fail unless I manage to hit 40 km in the next few days. On the bright side, one of my other resolutions

Data Visualisation: No Tools Required Paid Members Public
When deciding how to build effective analytics teams, data visualisation often comes up as a requirement. It is no surprise that the role of data visualisation analyst has gained traction with many organisations, even as its scope is not entirely clear. What skills should these visualisation analysts have? What sets

Choosing Metrics That Matter Paid Members Public
When Tamagotchi [http://www.bandai.com/tamagotchi/] launched in 1997, it ignited a global craze. Children who had never before cared about data were suddenly obsessing about their virtual pet’s hunger and the value of its “Happiness Meter”. While it is easy to poke fun at this, fifteen years

Made To Measure: Getting Your Head Above Water In A Sea Of Metrics Paid Members Public
With even the most traditional businesses embracing analytics, an explosion in data volume has left many decision makers swamped by information. It’s hard to drive the right actions when you’re drowning in a sea of useless metrics. Defining these metrics and how they get used can be complicated,

Zero to Impact in a Week Paid Members Public
Analytics teams who want to prove themselves – “It’s not just hype, promise!” – face a number of hurdles. Whether it is identifying the right problem to solve, finding the best way to work with the business, or simply knowing whether an idea is any good, these obstacles can sideline data

Bias, Diversity, and Profitability Paid Members Public
The first history lesson I ever had in secondary school featured two hours on bias. At the time, I found this a frustrating experience. Why sit here talking about the importance of different perspectives when there are so many exciting Roman battles to revisit! I still remember the teacher’s