Leveraging Brains and Beauty for Effective Data Storytelling: From Concept to Reality
Anyone can make a pretty bar graph, but can you make sound decisions based on that graph? Is it actionable, or is it only fluff? How do you turn flashy concepts into actionable visualizations? Can you see the end result of those concepts; will they ever become reality? Do you have the vision to combine beauty with brains, thereby driving decisions with data? Or do you settle for destroying direction with disaster? American mathematician John Tukey once said, “The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.” What value do you see in your data? And what ideas do you have when you see it? Learn how you can capitalize on your ideas by blending internal with external, leveraging them into a cohesive strategy for both the short term AND the long term. See the five “Stages of the Spectrum” in action while discovering the difference between impact and influence, and how that difference plays into making data actionable. Catch the right blend of art and science, or beauty and brains, as you go from concept to reality.
Learning Objectives: The participant/attendee will…
- Identify and recognize the five stages of the visualization spectrum
- Determine how to leverage these steps into a cohesive visualization strategy
- Differentiate between impact/influence and how that plays into making data actionable
- Ascertain how the four-step iterative implementation cycle works: Deploy, Discover, Discern, Develop
High-Level Outline (The Five Stages of the Spectrum):
- Conception
- Inception
- Perception
- Inspection
- Direction
Facilitating Innovation in a Post-COVID19 World: Cultivating a Climate for Paradigm Shift
Renaissance philosopher and writer Machiavelli has been quoted as saying, “I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” The importance of respecting personal space and practicing impeccable hygiene aren’t the only lessons learned from COVID-19. If anything, the world has seen the incalculable value of innovative thinking, because a global pandemic certainly provides enormous motivation to leave the status quo behind. That said, how do you overthrow the status quo without sacrificing quality and security in the process? Learn the three key words needed (Recognize, Resolve, and Respond) to strike this delicate balance in this challenge for technology and other professionals to shift their paradigm, facilitate innovation, and be a catalyst for change rather than an antagonist.
Has COVID-19 made you see the need to adopt a more agile way of thinking? Where is your leadership strategy now? Where do you want it to be as the industry recovers from this worldwide crisis? Do you intend to get it there by using the same methods that haven’t worked? It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. Is that how you want your legacy to be remembered? Do you project an image of being part of the problem or part of the solution? Find out how to be a catalyst for change (facilitating innovation) and NOT an antagonist (frustrating innovation). Discover three types of flexibility in leadership and work/life balance needed to make that happen in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Learning Objectives: The participant will…
- Effectively recognize major characteristics and effects of change in the light of COVID-19
- Efficiently resolve to take ownership of change by balancing two qualities and using three types of flexibility
- Enthusiastically demonstrate three appropriate response-types to embracing change and facilitating innovation
High-Level Outline: The three-pronged approach to innovative thinking described above
- Recognize (three characteristics of change that start with “I”)
- Resolve (to balance two seemingly opposite “D” mindsets)
- Respond (three distinct “looks” – inward, upward, outward)
The Madness Behind the Method (Teaching, Coaching, or Mentoring?)
Take a closer look at the relational mindset in your company by asking yourself, “How can I improve my approach to educating and retaining my staff?” That’s a good question. Have you considered whether you should be pulling them or pushing them? Are you depending more on adhesion or cohesion? Is your focus on attention (teaching), adjustment (coaching), or accomplishment (mentoring)? Find out how each of those three approaches can help you get to where you want to be from where you are right now. Learn how to tell whether you have a method behind the madness, or if it’s more of a madness behind the method!
Learning Objectives: The participant will…
- Determine how to improve one’s institutional approach to the education and retention of staff by discerning the differences (and pros/cons) among teaching, coaching, and mentoring.
- Identify the six components (or “nodes”) comprising the “Mad Structural Matrix” of these three approaches and how to leverage them for maximum effectiveness.
- Differentiate between adhesion and cohesion when attempting to enhance knowledge sharing and closing skill gaps in the realm of staff professional development.
High-Level Outline: These make up the six nodes of the “Mad Structural Matrix”
- Emphasis
- Focus
- Goal
- Approach
- Summary
- Relationship
Driving Decisions with Data: Delight or Disaster?
Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” Whether Einstein actually said this or not, he certainly embodied the sentiment by recognizing the value of using data to drive decisions. In fact, recent Forbes and TechJury studies have estimated that more data was created in a single minute in 2020 than the data created during Einstein’s entire life. How can all that data be put to use? Should it be driving our decision-making? To that point, in a 2018 Forrester survey of more than a thousand US companies, 91% of them said that data-driven decision-making was important to their business, while only 57% said they actually used data to make decisions in their business.
How do we bridge this gap? What do KPIs have to do with ROI? How do you get from being in “data denial” to being data driven? Why should you even care? This session will answer those questions and much more. Come see the relevance of the four Vs of Big Data. Discover three types of cognitive biases and how they are the enemies of opportunity. Are qualitative and quantitative data opposed to each other, or can they be friends? With regards to best practices for driving business decisions with data, find out how you should LOOK, LINK, LISTEN, LEVERAGE, and LEARN — and how to make it all a delight rather than a disaster.
Learning Objectives: The participant/attendee will…
- Recognize how to leverage both qualitative data and quantitative data in driving business decision-making
- Identify the three types of cognitive biases in big data and how they’re the enemy of opportunity
- Define the five best practices for driving business decisions with data along with the key words for each one (look, link, listen, leverage, and learn)
High-Level Outline: The Five Phases to take you from being data ignorant to being data driven are…
- Dominance (prioritizing objectives) = LOOK
- Relevance (finding/presenting relevant data) = LINK
- Significance (drawing conclusions) = LISTEN
- Surveillance (planning the strategy) = LEVERAGE
- Vigilance (measuring success & repeat) = LEARN
