By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data analytics in sports industry
    Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
    6 Min Read
    data analytics on nursing career
    Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
    8 Min Read
    data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
    Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
    9 Min Read
    data-driven image seo
    Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
    8 Min Read
    construction analytics
    5 Benefits of Analytics to Manage Commercial Construction
    5 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Analytic Auteurs
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
data analytics in sports industry
Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
Big Data
data analytics on nursing career
Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
Analytics
data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
Analytics
anti-spoofing tips
Anti-Spoofing is Crucial for Data-Driven Businesses
Security
ai in software development
3 AI-Based Strategies to Develop Software in Uncertain Times
Software
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > Analytic Auteurs
Uncategorized

Analytic Auteurs

Steve Bennett
Last updated: 2010/02/02 at 6:56 PM
Steve Bennett
7 Min Read
SHARE

In my last blog I was looking for a label that I could use to describe what I do analytically. I don’t have an answer yet but I’ve found a new candidate: Auteur. Sounds pretentious enough to me to be interesting. Bare with me as I think that there might be something worth knowing.

In the January 29 edition of the New York Times, I read an article by Steve Lohr called ‘Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism’. In it, John Kao talks about the ‘auteur model’ of product innovation. The basic idea is ‘innovation driven by a single key figure’. Steve Lohr goes on to talk about Steve Job’s description of himself as a Team Leader:

“In choosing key members of his team, he looks for the multiplier factor of excellence. Truly outstanding designers, engineers and managers, he says, are not just 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent better than merely very good ones, but 10 times better. Their contributions, he adds, are the raw material of “aha” products, which make users rethink their notions of, say, a music player or cellphone.”

That’s when a light bulb went off in my head and I could relate this to my own experiences delivering analytic capabilities. How do they relate to …

More Read

big data improves

3 Ways Big Data Improves Leadership Within Companies

IT Is Not Analytics. Here’s Why.
Romney Invokes Analytics in Rebuke of Trump
WEF Davos 2016: Top 100 CEO bloggers
In Memoriam: Robin Fray Carey

In my last blog I was looking for a label that I could use to describe what I do analytically. I don’t have an answer yet but I’ve found a new candidate: Auteur. Sounds pretentious enough to me to be interesting. Bare with me as I think that there might be something worth knowing.

In the January 29 edition of the New York Times, I read an article by Steve Lohr called ‘Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism’. In it, John Kao talks about the ‘auteur model’ of product innovation. The basic idea is ‘innovation driven by a single key figure’. Steve Lohr goes on to talk about Steve Job’s description of himself as a Team Leader:

“In choosing key members of his team, he looks for the multiplier factor of excellence. Truly outstanding designers, engineers and managers, he says, are not just 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent better than merely very good ones, but 10 times better. Their contributions, he adds, are the raw material of “aha” products, which make users rethink their notions of, say, a music player or cellphone.”

That’s when a light bulb went off in my head and I could relate this to my own experiences delivering analytic capabilities. How do they relate to Steve Jobs description? Well I always make a point of hiring trusted experts who I know are outstanding in their field of expertise.

Ipad  I know they are good because we have worked together before. This gives us a shared level of trust that is hard to beat.

They are the catalyst for exceptional delivery to the organisation. We think as a team and our combined skills are much greater than the sum of the individuals. What I also call the ‘multiplier’.

By multiplier, I am referring to the team’s collective ability to really change the way an organisation manages its information. Together we have critical mass. The Team is the catalyst that sparks creativity within the wider Analytic Community in the organisation. Like a chain reaction, the Analytic Community itself inspires their business divisions to develop ever greater insight and information management skills.

Now I never thought of myself as an auteur, but my favourite analogy for ‘doing analytics’ was making a movie. The analogy runs something like this:

As the director (think of me as a cross between Tim Burton and Spike Jonze) I assemble a team for 1 – 2 years and together we create the analytic solution the organisation needs. The solution is generally made up of two components. The first is a suite of information products (data marts, cubes, reports, dashboards, etc.). The second is the skills for the organisation to ‘self serve’ and create new information products without us.

We then we disperse to different places. Only to meet again when the next ‘movie’ opportunity arises.

My trusted experts are:

  • Business Analyst – Script Writer
  • Data Integrator – Special Effects
  • Solution Designer – Cinematographer
  • Information Designer – Set Designer/Head of Props
  • Quality Control – Post-Production
  • Change Agent – PR and Marketing

Why do the same people agree to work with me more than once? Well, you’ll have to ask them to really know. But I can tell you what I tell them when I’m trying to get them them for one more gig. In no particular order I promise them:

  • A real intellectual challenge
  • A core team they can trust
  • That they will learn from both the challenge and their fellow team members
  • Very good remuneration – at least as good as they will get elsewhere
  • Fun!

Don’t get me wrong. The core team does get new blood each time and sometimes people just muscle their way into the team by being damn good at what they do. Never underestimate serendipity and the pleasure at meeting another person of whom you think ‘wow – they’re good!’.

Wow is the thing that keeps me going. If you can’t be passionate, then the low points of any 2 year analytic journey are going to outweigh the high points. 

So that’s the analogy that has worked best for me in the past. Writing this down makes me want to go out there and do it all again!

Footnote: To the cynical bunch of people that know me – I have not written this blog in order to stroke Steve Jobs ego so that he will send me a free iPad. But Steve, if you really, really want to …

Link to original post

Steve Bennett February 2, 2010
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

data analytics in sports industry
Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
Big Data
data analytics on nursing career
Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
Analytics
data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
Analytics
anti-spoofing tips
Anti-Spoofing is Crucial for Data-Driven Businesses
Security

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

big data improves
Big DataJobsKnowledge ManagementUncategorized

3 Ways Big Data Improves Leadership Within Companies

6 Min Read
Image
Uncategorized

IT Is Not Analytics. Here’s Why.

7 Min Read

Romney Invokes Analytics in Rebuke of Trump

4 Min Read

WEF Davos 2016: Top 100 CEO bloggers

14 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

giveaway chatbots
How To Get An Award Winning Giveaway Bot
Big Data Chatbots Exclusive
AI chatbots
AI Chatbots Can Help Retailers Convert Live Broadcast Viewers into Sales!
Chatbots

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?