How to Build a Culture of Analytics

Lessons from Amazon, Netflix, Google, and More

Previous audiences: Keynotes to annual conferences, conference breakout sessions, and corporate events

The business world is abuzz with talk of a powerful yet amorphous term: analytics. Achieving the Holy Grail of data-based decision-making, though, is far easier said than done.

Plenty of people hate making decisions based upon anything data-related. Read Moneyball if you don’t believe me. This disease isn’t just confined to sports. I’ve seen it in healthcare, publishing, retail, and just about every industry you can imagine.

In many hidebound organizations, employees act as if they just know what’s best—data and analytics be damned. They refuse to listen to numbers, opting instead for their experiences and opinions.

This unwillingness to look at things differently doesn’t these folks evil; it just makes them human. Unfortunately, dataphobes are likely to squander promising business opportunities. They frequently make decisions based upon incomplete information. They often fail to see problems until they have become full-blown crises.

Dataphobes often fail to see problems until they have become full-blown crises.

In this talk, I draw upon my extensive research of organizations that have moved from theory to practice. They include Amazon, Netflix, eBay, Google, Facebook, eBay, Twitter, and others. I answer the following questions and more:
 

• What exactly is a culture of analytics?
• What are the benefits of building one?
• Why is building a culture of analytics so essential today?
• Are modern-day analytics really different than their predecessors? If so, then how?
• Which companies have already built a culture of analytics?
• How can I build (a better) one in my organization?
• Are there any downsides here?
• What does all of this mean for the future?