HBR Insights Future of Business Boxed Set (8 Books)

3

THE RIGHT WAY TO DEPLOY PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS

by Eric Siegel

With today’s high demand for data scientists and the high salaries that they command, it’s often not practical for companies to keep them on staff. Instead, many organizations work to ramp up their existing staff’s analytics skills, including predictive analytics. But organizations need to proceed with caution. Predictive analytics is especially easy to get wrong. Here are the first three “don’ts” your team needs to learn and their corresponding remedies.

1. Don’t Fall for Buzzwords—Clarify Your Objective

You know the Joe Jackson song, “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)”? Turn it on and let it be your mantra. As fashionable as it is, “data science” is not ...