Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast!

Chapter 11 Epilogue

At the beginning of this book, I told you the story of my mother, and how the experiences we had at two different hospitals when she fell critically ill demonstrated—in no uncertain terms—the power of actionable intelligence. My hope is that once you get to this part of the book you have the same kind of appreciation and, importantly, some pragmatic recommendations and tools that will help you very quickly and effectively implement an actionable intelligence strategy at your own organization.

I wish I could end the book by telling you that after my mother was cared for by the good doctors at Columbia she pulled through and went on to experience good health for years. We were able to take her from Columbia and place her in a wonderful long-term care facility in Queens, New York. And we did get some more time with her, praying, singing, and even watching episodes of her favorite show, Murder, She Wrote. She couldn't participate, but she was there, and when she smiled it brightened the entire world for me.

My mother passed in December 2010. She was a believer in Christ, a prayer warrior for our family, and a lovely person. We sent her off to heaven with a celebration at Memorial Presbyterian Church in New York. Alan Singer, her colleague and professor at Hofstra University, wrote a wonderful obituary about her on the Huffington Post. Hundreds of people came to her funeral, and many shared how she had touched their lives.

One of the dreams my mother had was ...