Friday, July 19, 2013
Keeping up with your Quants ( Data Driven Decision Making ) ET 19.july.2013
So what does the shift toward data-driven decision-making mean for you?
This article is based on interviews with executives... Start by thinking
of yourself as a consumer of analytics. The producers are the quants
whose analyses and models you'll integrate with business experience and
intuition as you make decisions.
Producers are good at gathering data and making predictions about the future. But most lack sufficient knowledge to identify hypotheses and relevant variables and to know when the ground beneath an organisation is shifting. Your job as a data consumer — to generate hypotheses and determine if results and recommendations make sense in a changing business environment — is therefore important. That means accepting key responsibilities. Some require only changes in attitude and perspective; others demand study.
You need to understand the process for making analytical decisions, including when you should step in as a consumer, and you must recognise that every analytical model is built on assumptions that producers ought to explain and defend.
As the famous statistician George Box noted, "All models are wrong, but some are useful." So, models intentionally simplify our complex world. To become more data literate, enroll in an executive education program in statistics, take an online course, or learn from the quants in your organisation by working closely with them.
Producers are good at gathering data and making predictions about the future. But most lack sufficient knowledge to identify hypotheses and relevant variables and to know when the ground beneath an organisation is shifting. Your job as a data consumer — to generate hypotheses and determine if results and recommendations make sense in a changing business environment — is therefore important. That means accepting key responsibilities. Some require only changes in attitude and perspective; others demand study.
You need to understand the process for making analytical decisions, including when you should step in as a consumer, and you must recognise that every analytical model is built on assumptions that producers ought to explain and defend.
As the famous statistician George Box noted, "All models are wrong, but some are useful." So, models intentionally simplify our complex world. To become more data literate, enroll in an executive education program in statistics, take an online course, or learn from the quants in your organisation by working closely with them.
