Leading in Analytics

TASK 4The Tools

ANALYTICS MINDSET

There are many tools used in analytics. Some are algorithmic tools that do the analytics; others are computational technologies that enable analytics to be done at scale. All of them can be helpful at different times and places, depending on their use. Yet, the most important tool is your mindset, according to Aryng CEO Piyanka Jain, because with the right mindset you will find a way to make an analytically driven decision.

This concept was underscored to me while interviewing Dr. Karl Kempf, my personal analytics hero and the father of the concept of the five manageable tasks, which are central to the framework for this book. Kempf talked about not being able to share a lot of insights on the tools of analytics, because that was not his specialty. He described himself as being the “math guy,” not the “tool guy.” I just love Karl for his humility. Here was one of the smartest people I have ever met in my entire life in a field full of smart people, talking about how much he did not know about tools, in spite of his team's many billion‐dollar successes shared in the introduction to this book.

If you are an executive, business process owner, or even on the analytics team, you do not have to know everything. In fact, that should not be your goal, as no one can know everything. At the exponential rate knowledge is growing, it is doubtful anyone will ever be able to know it all. Yes, everyone can know, should know, something. Even in one field, ...