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: More Spocky, Less Rocky
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 > Data Management > Culture/Leadership > More Spocky, Less Rocky
AnalyticsCulture/LeadershipInside Companies

More Spocky, Less Rocky

GaryCokins
Last updated: 2011/06/20 at 5:21 PM
GaryCokins
6 Min Read
SHARE

On the shelves in the business section of any bookstore are numerous books about leadership and management. I have never considered myself to be a motivational writer or speaker who describes the importance of executives rallying the work force with inspiration. My interests are more with equipping managers and employee teams to help their organizations be better, faster, cheaper and smarter. 

On the shelves in the business section of any bookstore are numerous books about leadership and management. I have never considered myself to be a motivational writer or speaker who describes the importance of executives rallying the work force with inspiration. My interests are more with equipping managers and employee teams to help their organizations be better, faster, cheaper and smarter. 

Now I am increasingly raising the topic of leadership because in my career I have seen examples of leadership styles that reflect individual desire for power more than a duty to improving organizational performance. 

More Read

data analytics in sports industry

Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game

Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
5 Benefits of Analytics to Manage Commercial Construction

Muscle or brain? Strength or smarts? I choose the latter in both cases. But how is this finessed to align employee behavior, projects and priorities with the executive team’s strategic objectives?

Analytics-based enterprise performance management

The primary source for improvements in organizational effectiveness and decision making is shifting toward the use of analytics of all flavors. Traditional approaches – like 1980s management by objectives (MBOs), bullying employees, and hollow wall banners of rhetoric (“Quality Comes First”) – are being superseded by deploying and integrating business analytics into accepted enterprise performance management methodologies. Examples of business analytics are correlation analysis to understand causal relationships and regression for forecasting. Performance management methodologies include the balanced scorecard, risk management and customer profitability reporting.

Applying business analytics from the CEO’s office to each employee’s desktop enables an organization to frame and solve complex business problems, manage performance to achieve measurable objectives with targets, drive sustainable growth through innovation, and anticipate and manage change.

Having a foundation for business analytics is important too. My personal bias of converting insights into action often makes me forget that many organizations have issues with data quality and with disparate and nonstandard data sources. Organizations will continue to have problems with all of the data they are collecting. Even if their source data has high integrity and is accessible, it still takes time and effort to run reports and get them to the relevant people and additional time for those people to tell the relevant systems what to do, assuming the right systems are in place. Data integration and management – plus techniques like extract, transform and load (ETL) – can be prerequisites for analytics-based performance management.

The emergence of predictive analytics

One particularly powerful flavor of analytics is predictive analytics. Applying predictive analytics results in making proactive, forward-looking decisions that go beyond simple query-and-reporting questions like “What happened?”, “How many?” and “How often?” to answer high-impact questions like “Why did it happen?”, “What will happen next?” and “What is the best that can happen?”

A recent survey by the consulting firm Accenture reported that most companies are far from where they want and need to be when it comes to implementing analytics. They are still relying on intuition and gut feeling, rather than fact-based data, when making decisions. What is needed today is the seamless integration of managerial methodologies such as balanced scorecards, strategy maps, budgets, activity-based costing (ABC), forecasts, customer relationship and value management, and resource capacity planning. Each methodology should be embedded with business analytics, especially predictive analytics.

Overcoming natural resistance to change

What major barrier continues to obstruct the adoption rate of enterprise performance management methodologies? The barriers are social, behavioral and cultural. There are many examples of this obstacle, including people’s natural resistance to change; not wanting to be measured or held accountable; fear of knowing the truth (or of someone else knowing it); reluctance to share data or information; and “we don’t do that here.”

The reality, though, is few of us, if any, have training or experience as organizational change management specialists. We are not sociologists. We are not psychologists. And neither are many executives in leadership positions. However, we are learning to become change management practitioners. 

I credit the New York Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd for my title. Her column “Less Spocky, More Rocky” described politicians; but when I applied this title to mission-directed organizations, like yours, I swapped the two names. I would prefer to have an organization with Star Trek’s Spock-like logic and analytical skills than one like Rocky Balboa, punching meat carcasses in the freezer.

 

 

 

GaryCokins June 20, 2011
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

data analytics in sports industry
Big Data

Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game

6 Min Read
data analytics on nursing career
Analytics

Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing

8 Min Read
data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
Analytics

Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA

9 Min Read
data-driven image seo
Analytics

Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO

8 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 in ecommerce
Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce: A Closer Look
Artificial Intelligence

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?