Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

By : John K. Thompson
5 (1)
Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

5 (1)
By: John K. Thompson

Overview of this book

In Building Analytics Teams, John K. Thompson, with his 30+ years of experience and expertise, illustrates the fundamental concepts of building and managing a high-performance analytics team, including what to do, who to hire, projects to undertake, and what to avoid in the journey of building an analytically sound team. The core processes in creating an effective analytics team and the importance of the business decision-making life cycle are explored to help achieve initial and sustainable success. The book demonstrates the various traits of a successful and high-performing analytics team and then delineates the path to achieve this with insights on the mindset, advanced analytics models, and predictions based on data analytics. It also emphasizes the significance of the macro and micro processes required to evolve in response to rapidly changing business needs. The book dives into the methods and practices of managing, developing, and leading an analytics team. Once you've brought the team up to speed, the book explains how to govern executive expectations and select winning projects. By the end of this book, you will have acquired the knowledge to create an effective business analytics team and develop a production environment that delivers ongoing operational improvements for your organization.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
12
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13
Index

Linear and non-linear thinking

Developing analytical applications is a creative endeavor.

The process is characterized by fits and starts, dead ends, sparks of brilliance, and moments of eureka. Who would not want that in their daily jobs? It turns out, lots of people would rather never have to do any of that in their daily role. They are linear thinkers. Linear thinkers are everywhere. You may be one of them. I am not. No matter—we can all work together.

Linear thinkers tend to see things in black and white terms. They want concrete and defined dates. They see the rules as being immutable. No gray areas, or very few gray areas for them. Again, no worries, we can all get along, if we are willing to listen to each other and collaborate.

Working with linear thinkers—and you will have to, because they are the majority of people who are successful in business today—is not as hard as it sounds. You simply need to spend much more time setting expectations...