
7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Predictive Analytics:
Leading Indicators and
Intangible Metrics
‘‘When one admits that nothing is certain one must,
I think, also admit that some things are much more
nearly certain than others.’’
—B
ERTRAND
R
USSELL
Toward Leading Indicators
Organizations have lived very well for five centuries with
lagging indicators emanating from double-entry bookkeep-
ing. Ever since Fra Luca Pacioli allegedly invented that
process in the 1490s, accountants have churned out tons of
data describing the outcomes of past work processes and
investments. This served businesses well as the process be-
came standardized. However, it does not generate data
about the ...