Once you know, what will you do?
I've yet to meet a client who didn't require, in some form or another, some way to analyze their data. Whether it was simple queries or reports, or more advanced dashboards or analytics, everyone wants to be able to analyze their data.
And that's a good thing.
But the first question that should be asked whenever we decide to analyze any data is "Once we've analyzed the data, what next action will we take as a result of that analysis?"
Or put more simply, "Once you know, what will you do?"
"That's interesting" or "It would be good to know" are not actions. "Let's try a different marketing message" or "Let's change the price on that" or "Let's stop doing that" are actions. Even "That's working, let's keep doing what we're doing" is an action!
So before you spend a lot of time and energy analyzing any data, ask yourself, "Once I know, what will I do?"
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Dashboards for Data Integrity
Dashboards for Data Integrity I’ve written a bunch on data integrity reports. (Click here for […]
Next-to-Nothing Goals
Next-to-Nothing Goals I saw a Ted Talk by Christine Carter recently discussing the concept of […]
Just because you can…
Just because you can… In response to a recent Wednesday Wisdom on averages hiding the […]
Always ask “Why?”
Always ask “Why?” Little kids ask “Why?” all the time, because they are sponges for […]
Averages hide the extremes
Averages hide the extremes I can’t remember where I first heard it, but “averages hide […]
Look up PARTIAL names!
Look up PARTIAL names! Train your staff to do look ups on partial names, not full […]
Not Just Technology
Not Just Technology There was recently a discussion on the ASAE online community about project management […]
Consider quitting
Consider quitting Patient: “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” Doctor: “Then stop doing that.” […]
There is nothing so permanent as business rules
There is nothing so permanent as business rules Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, “There’s nothing […]
Budget for feature discovery and adoption
Budget for feature discovery and adoption When developing a budget for implementation of a new […]