Communication – How to optimise businesses

What moves faster the denser you go into it…communication

My name is Simon Lavender a Data Scientist at Hunterlodge Advertising (and yes, I came from a science background).

Standardising methodology, using communication allows for better reinvestment of time…it is time that is a finite resource and in an ever more open world, competition is just as large.

However, from a background initially in charity (having graduated in Quantitative Genetics) I realised it was the awareness that was key…for 10 years you could go travel an inefficient way to work, then realise a better way.  To you, that route was fine/adequate/efficient, amongst other reasons you didn’t have time to consider it.

Step back, challenge the status quo.  Reflect and consider other approaches.  My degree focused on plants and with any change to experiments/work, there was a lag phase…in large public listed companies (of which I have worked/consulted at many), shareholder pressure would indicate productivity wasn’t fast enough – but, mistakes happen and their answer would be throwing more resources at a problem, attempting to solve something that isn’t aiding the solution (and thus bottom line and vision of the company).   It is communicating, making aware of such processes in advance, in the plan that is key to success.

In science, like project management it should be:  Plan, Hypothesis, Method, Results, Conclusion.

Results/Data is 20% of the actions yet data -> information -> actions are prioritised without considering whether you are even capturing relevant universes of data.  Pareto’s ratio approach of 80% of results through 20% of effort means you aren’t wasting unrealistic 99.9999999% accuracy, at a cost that won’t deliver a ROI.  Iterate and trial from results.

History is important to demonstrate ‘what might not have value of data capture today, has relevance tomorrow’ and can reveal useful growth to consider monitoring.  It is important to analyse within and between sets of data, to ensure effective comparison.  Crucially, you must make this apparent (especially to time deficient C-level executives).

With 7 years of board level reporting and advisory* I drive projects forward to completion via enthusiasm, without it you loss creativity and improvement is missed.  (A Director at Intel who we co-talked on Data Behaviour, pointed out that it was my emotion that engaged the audience most at the Big Data Week in London and that without passion you end up with time wasted with work “half” delivered i.e. not delivered as without verifying a significant sample the strategy is at risk of failure (recall that 9/10 science experiment fail).

*Reporting without advice is similar to “a picture says a 1,000 words” but they are not the analyst and should work with the analyst communicating and sharing knowledge opening to better interpretation and strategic direction.   Tailoring reasons for ups and downs (not merely dashboard arrows…reasons/rules can be automated…but without monitoring and feedback the effort is in vain.

Collaborate – Scientific discoveries have come about through journals, publications and talks to allows future experimentation without needless waste…yet the significance of testing/replication of said experiments is not to be ignored (hence challenge status quo…things change, for example accuracy of tools).

Facts are what win arguments, it is proof (like teaching, it was tried, tested and worked).  They are derived from science, they are spread via multiple mediums, TV, radio, publications, quizzes (including in pubs), competitions, online/social media, plus many others.  It is this spread and awareness that is key to decision making…for me facts broadens networking opportunities as it is the ability to have  common interests and build the relationship from them.

I leave you with news that via this, during Big Data Week / Conferences, we are sharing messages that can reach out, align and save time.

Enjoy it.

Regards,

Simon Lavender