Ideas-to-Action

Decrease in unsatisifed customers?

I am sitting here watching the news (or what is supposed to be news) and keep hearing about this poll and that poll regarding the different presidential candidates.  It reminded me of this quote from Evan Esar,

"Statistics: the only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions."

While it is almost humorous to watch the political pollsters argue over a few percentage points, we don't have that type of latitude in our organizations.  Data is the lifeblood for making sound business decisions.  Decisions that could lead to business growth and job creation or decisions that could lead to business decline and headcount reductions.  The data needs to be accurate and precise, and communicated in a way that it clearly represents the facts (or true truth).

I once heard heard some analysts talking about increases in customer attrition rates and they jokingly defined it as "a decrease in unsatisfied customers".

Please be careful how you collect data and communicate information.

The Easy Trap - Chasing the Metric

I am a very goal-oriented, results-driven person.  I like to win.  Hence, I can sometimes be easy prey for the "chasing the metrics" trap...

Yesterday, I caught up with this post on Harry Joiner's Marketing Headhunter blog regarding the different lists that rank blogs - Todd Andrlik's Power 150 and Mack Collier's Viral Garden Top 25 Marketing Blogs.  There are some awesome blogs on these list.  Many of which are in my "People to See" list.  Immediately, my results-driven mind went to "what do I have to do to get on one of those lists?"  I started investigating how each of the list get scored.  What do I need to do to improve my Google PageRank so I can compete with Sam Decker?  What do I need to do to compete with the John Moore at Brand Autopsy?

It took a while (actually a long-time thinking about it, some sleep, then some coffee) before I realized what I was doing.  I fell into the same trap that so many companies and marketing organizations fall into.  I started chasing the metric and mentally moved away from why I started in the first place.  In my mental quest to improve my numbers, I discounted the foundational principals I used to establish this blog. 

I also realized that (for me) blogging is not about competing.  It is about building an interconnected stream of ideas and expertise that can improve the whole.  One blog does not necessarily "win" over another blog...but these lists can create that competition, especially when an industry publication like Advertising Age gets involved.  Now that I have gone through my mental calisthenics, I am happy that Seth reaches 5 gazillion people a day.  Maybe one day Ideas-to-Action will have relevance to that many people.  Until then, I am happy helping the people I touch everyday.

Have you fallen into this trap at work or in your personal life?  How have you defined winning?  What did you do to get back on track when you went off course?

Applying Analytics: Start transformation with a simple measurement & hypothesis to test

Analytics is a hot topic in almost every area of business today.  From marketing's emphasis to show ROI to rigorous analytics in Six Sigma to improve processes, everyone seems to be on the analytics bandwagon.

Personally, I am an analytic person and a true believer in the use of analytics to innovate, transform and improve companies. (Side note, if you are new to the use of analytics or managing analytics in your company, Tom Davenport has a good book you should read - Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning)

However, I have seen analysts and managers across industries go overboard on measurement - the much needed kissing cousin of analytics.  Marching forward with "if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it" or "we must find the root cause", companies will create a multitude of measures - many which will sit in a report and add no value to understanding the business or solving any problems at hand.

I love this quote from Lord Kelvin (created the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature measurement):

"When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced it to the stage of science."

How do I interpret and apply this quote?

1. Find facts, not opinions.
2. Improvement can start with a simple measurement and a hypothesis to test.
3. You may not have a complete understanding of the situation or how to control it.
4. Knowledge will need to be developed through testing or finding people with detailed knowledge.

Let's look at this in action:

During August of 1854, there was a cholera outbreak in London. At the time, it was commonly accepted that cholera was airborne and people would contract it by breathing mist or vapors.  However, John Snow, a British physician, believed that cholera entered the body through the mouth.  He plotted the cholera cases on location check sheet and found them clustered around the Broad Street water pump.  He had the pump handle removed and the cases of cholera stopped. 

John Snow did not completely understand the bacteria, but was able to stop (i.e. control) the cases of cholera starting with a simple measurement and hypothesis to test.

What can you do today to transform your business with a simple measurement and hypothesis to test?