Thread by @minethatdata

1 - Ok, time for a story.

https://twitter.com/RioLongacre/status/1213520639203532801

2 - In 1994 at Lands' End, I was asked to build upon the work of my boss and create an "Analytical Services" team. We operated within marketing. We made all of the classic mistakes ... dashboards nobody cared about, analyses that lacked context, raw unadulterated arrogance (me).

3 - So when I got to Eddie Bauer, I tried hard to toss the arrogance component of my work (hard for me to do, FYI), and tried to avoid dashboards at all costs. Had plenty of successes ... analytics ultimately became part of the catalog/online division, strongly aligned with mktg.

4 - When I worked at Avenue A it was silo-fest ... I detest the narrative that silos need to be torn down ... silos exist for reasons, and they're wrong, but they're not wrong because they are silos, they're wrong because people refuse to get along - solve the people problem).

5 - I basically created my own analytics team to compete directly against the existing analytics team (yes, silos). The existing team was focused on theory and didn't care about solving client problems. So my team solved client problems. Hint - that team thrived.

6 - So all of that experience shaped the team I'd eventually build at Nordstrom.

24 people.

We created dashboards ... they were ignored even by the analysts in my department!

7 - We positioned ourselves as "Switzerland" ... we would remain neutral at all costs. Our only job was to explain how customers were behaving.

8 - We get our fair share of criticism! I was standing on a street corner outside of my building, and a Finance Director was telling another Finance Director that my team (Business Intelligence) represented an oxymoron ... we didn't help business & we weren't intelligent.

9 - Outsiders are really good at pointing out failures.

Anybody who has worked in analytics knows that ... outsiders quickly (and smugly) tell you all the things you do wrong and tell you how you can improve ... then they move on to their next assignment.

10 - It's a lot harder, of course, to actually have to put boots on the ground and do the actual work.

11 - There are four things that I've seen consistently work in analytics:

a) Be Right.

b) Business Context + Profit.

c) Be Neutral.

d) Make Somebody Look Good.

12 - How you accomplish a/b/c/d is up to you. There is no right/wrong way to get there. Do not listen to the gurus who prescribe exactly how to be successful ... that method is unlikely to work in your very specific environment.

13 - Know your audience, and then do what is right for your audience (try hard to not do what is right for you).

14 - Also realize that, just like in sports (as a coach or in management or as an athlete), you job tenure follows a season ... there's a beginning, there's all the winning, and then there's an end that is likely to lack glory.

15 - When the end comes (and you'll know ... you are either fired, reassigned, or you see the writing on the wall and you quit), perform a post-mortem of what you did well and what you did that didn't work.

Then develop a plan for your next job.

16 - When I moved on to Eddie Bauer, I had a whole outline of how I'd do my job, the kinds of people I'd hire, the work I'd perform. I told them what I'd do instead of interviewing for what they thought they wanted. Risky? Yes.

17 - When I moved on to Nordstrom, I had 30ish powerpoint slides that outlined how I'd run a department, how I'd transform a failing business from a marketing/analytics standpoint, how I'd manage people.

When folks grumbled in year one, I'd point to my presentation.

18 - You're seldom going to please anybody in an Analytics profession. Outsiders demean you, your own staff have their own visions, pigheaded Leaders won't take risks, you name it. It's hard.

But have a plan. Your own plan. Do it your way.

Questions?
KH