Organizational Issues
In technology and business, Agile methodologies have become something of a gospel. They are hailed for their flexibility, responsiveness, and ability to foster continuous improvement. But in this congregation of Agile followers, there exists a group of nonconformists – the…
The title of this post is a quote credited to Winston Churchill, although the attribution is questionable. It conveys the notion that dramatic events generate new insights and create opportunities for growth. Put another way, "look for the silver lining."…
We have previously written about the perils of third-party data in forecasting. The notion that more data helps improve forecasting is true in principle, albeit in practice it can make things worse. An article published in the fourth quarter 2022…
Tom Davenport, First Analytics chairman and noted author and expert on analytics is releasing two books this month, September, 2022. Working with AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration explores worker-AI collaboration in real world settings. By offering detailed, real-world case…
Tension between railroad management and workers is high. Attendance policies associated with grueling work schedules and safety concerns related to Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) are at the top of the list of complaints voiced by labor unions. Government regulators have…
It has been ten years since Tom Davenport, one of the leaders of First Analytics, along with Jeanne Harris, published the seminal book, Competing on Analytics. It is credited for initiating the serious adoption of analytics by businesses. Tom says…
One of the leaders of First Analytics, Tom Davenport, has written about how to organize analytics professionals within companies. For example, in “Five Ways to Organize Your Data Scientists” he comments on organizational variations ranging between a fully decentralized organization with…