Claim OwnershipThe Analytics Power Hour
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Attend any conference for any topic and you will hear people saying after that the best and most informative discussions happened in the bar after the show. Read any business magazine and you will find an article saying something along the lines of "Business Analytics is the hottest job category out there, and there is a significant lack of people, process and best practice." In this case the conference was eMetrics, the bar was….multiple, and the attendees were Michael Helbling, Tim Wilson and Jim Cain (Co-Host Emeritus). After a few pints and a few hours of discussion about the cutting edge of digital analytics, they realized they might have something to contribute back to the community. This podcast is one of those contributions. Each episode is a closed topic and an open forum - the goal is for listeners to enjoy listening to Michael, Tim, and Moe share their thoughts and experiences and hopefully take away something to try at work the next day. We hope you enjoy listening to the Digital Analytics Power Hour.
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KPIs? Really? It’s 2024. Can’t we just ask Claude to generate those for us? We say… no. There are lots and lots of things that AI can take on or streamline, but getting meaningful, outcome-oriented alignment within a set of business partners as they plan a campaign, project, or initiative isn’t one of them! Or, at least, we’re pretty sure that’s what our special guest for this episode would say. He’s been thinking about (and ranting about) organizations’ failure to take goal establishment, KPI identification, and target-setting seriously enough for years (we found a post he wrote in 2009 on the subject!). He also really helped us earn our explicit tag for this episode — scatologically and onanistically, we’re afraid. But solid content nonetheless, so hopefully you can hear past that! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
udging by the number of inbound pitches we get from PR firms, AI is absolutely going to replace most of the work of the analyst some time in the next few weeks. It’s just a matter of time until some startup gets enough market traction to make that happen (business tip: niche podcasts are likely not a productive path to market dominance, no matter what Claude from Marketing says). We’re skeptical. But that doesn’t mean we don’t think there are a lot of useful applications of generative AI for the analyst. We do! As Moe posited in this episode, one useful analogy is that thinking of using generative AI effectively is like getting a marketer effectively using MMM when they’ve been living in an MTA world (it’s more nuanced and complicated). Our guest (NOT from a PR firm solicitation!), Martin Broadhurst, agreed: it’s dicey to fully embrace generative AI without some understanding of what it’s actually doing. Things got a little spicy, but no humans or AI were harmed in the making of the episode. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
For the first time since they've been a party of five, all of the Analytics Power Hour co-hosts assembled in the same location. That location? The Windy City. The occasion? Chicago's first ever MeasureCamp! The crew was busy throughout the day inviting attendees to "hop on the mic" with them to answer various questions. We covered everything from favorite interview questions to tips and tricks, with some #hottake questions thrown in for fun. During the happy hour at the end of the day, we also recorded a brief live show, which highlighted some of the hosts' favorite moments from the day. Listen carefully and you'll catch an audio cameo from Tim's wife, Julie! And keep an eye on the MeasureCamp website to find the coolest way to spend a nerdy Saturday near you (Bratislava, Sydney, Dubai, Stockholm, Brussels, and Istanbul are all coming up before the end of the year!). For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
To data analyst, or to data science? To individually contribute, or to manage the individual contributions of others? To mid-career pivot into analytics, or to… oh, hell yes! That last one isn’t really a choice, is it? At least, not for listeners who are drawn to this podcast. And this episode is a show that can be directly attributed to listeners. As we gathered feedback in our recent listener survey, we asked for topic suggestions, and a neat little set of those suggestions were all centered around career development. And thus, a show was born! All five co-hosts—Julie, Michael, Moe, Tim, and Val—hopped on the mic to collaborate on some answers in this episode. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
It's human nature to want to compare yourself or your organization against your competition, but how valuable are benchmarks to your business strategy? Benchmarks can be dangerous. You can rarely put your hands on all the background and context since, by definition, benchmark data is external to your organization. And you can also argue that benchmarks are a lazy way to evaluate performance, or at least some co-hosts on this episode feel that way! Eric Sandosham, founder and partner at Red & White Consulting Partners (and prolific writer), along with Moe, Tim, and Val break down the problems with benchmarking and offer some alternatives to consider when you get the itch to reach for one! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
While we don’t often call it out explicitly, the driving force behind much of what and how much data we collect is driven by a "just in case" mentality: we don't know exactly HOW that next piece of data will be put to use, but we better collect it to minimize the potential for future regret about NOT collecting it. Data collection is an optionality play—we strive to capture "all the data" so that we have as many potential options as possible for how it gets crunched somewhere down the road. On this episode, we explored the many ways this deeply ingrained and longstanding mindset is problematic, and we were joined by the inimitable Matt Gershoff from Conductrics for the discussion! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
Broadly writ, we’re all in the business of data work in some form, right? It’s almost like we’re all swimming around in a big data lake, and our peers are swimming around it, too, and so are our business partners. There might be some HiPPOs and some SLOTHs splashing around in the shallow end, and the contours of the lake keep changing. Is lifeguarding…or writing SQL…or prompt engineering to get AI to write SQL…or identifying business problems a job or a skill? Does it matter? Aren’t we all just trying to get to the Insights Water Slide? Katie Bauer, Head of Data at Gloss Genius and thought-provoker at Wrong But Useful, joined Michael, Julie, and Val for a much less metaphorically tortured exploration of the ever-shifting landscape in which the modern data professional operates. Or swims. Or sinks? For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
We're seeing the title "Analytics Engineer" continue to rise, and it’s in large part due to individuals realizing that there's a name for the type of work they've found themselves doing more and more. In today's landscape, there's truly a need for someone with some Data Engineering chops with an eye towards business use cases. We were fortunate to have the one of the co-authors of The Fundamentals of Analytics Engineering, Dumky de Wilde, join us to discuss the ins and outs of this popular role! Listen in to hear more about the skills and responsibilities of this role, some fun analogies to help explain to your grandma what AE's do, and even tips for individuals in this role for how they can communicate the value and impact of their work to senior leadership! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
A claim: in the world of business analytics, the default/primary source of data is real world data collected through some form of observation or tracking. Occasionally, when the stakes are sufficiently high and we need stronger evidence, we'll run some form of controlled experiment, like an A/B test. Contrast that with the world of healthcare, where the default source of data for determining a treatment's safety and efficacy is a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and it's only been relatively recently that real world data (RWD) -- data available outside of a rigorously controlled experiment -- has begun to be seen as a useful complement. On this episode, medical statistician Lewis Carpenter, Director of Real World Evidence (there's an acronym for that, too: RWE!) at Arcturis, joined Tim, Julie, and Val for a fascinating compare and contrast and caveating of RWD vs. RCTs in a medical setting and, consequently, what horizons that could broaden for the analyst working in more of a business analytics role. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
How good are humans at distinguishing between human-generated thoughts and AI-generated…thoughts? Could doing an extremely unscientific exploration of the question also generate some useful discussion? We decided to dig in and find out with a show recorded in front of a live audience at Marketing Analytics Summit in Phoenix! With Michael in the role of Peter Sagal, Julie, Tim, and Val went head-to-GPU by answering a range of analytics-oriented questions. Two co-hosts delivered their own answers, and one co-host delivered ChatGPT's, and the audience had to figure out which was which. Plus, a bit of audience Q&A, which included Michael channeling his inner Charlie Day! This episode also features the walk-on music that was written and performed live by Josh Silverbauer (no relation to Josh Crowhurst, the producer of this very podcast who also wrote and recorded the show's standard intro music; what is it about guys named Josh?!). For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are as pervasive as they are critical to the functioning of the modern world. That personalized and content-rich product page with a sub-second load time on Amazon? That's just a couple-hundred API calls working their magic. Every experience on your mobile device? Loaded with APIs. But, just because they're everywhere doesn't mean that they spring forth naturally from the keystrokes of a developer. There's a lot more going on that requires real thought and planning, and the boisterous arrival of AI to mainstream modernity has made the role of APIs and their underlying infrastructure even more critical. On this episode, Moe, Julie, and Tim dug into the fascinating world with API Maven Marco Palladino, the co-founder and CTO at Kong, Inc. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
Professional development is a big topic—way more than just thinking about what job you want in five years and setting milestones along the way. Thankfully we had Helen Crossley, Senior Director of Marketing Science at Meta, join Michael, Moe, and Val to dive deep into this topic! We explored how to set really good, meaningful goals, the challenges across each stage from junior analyst to leader, and how to give great feedback. We also spent quite a bit of time discussing the new challenges that becoming a first-time manager presents and, hopefully, some helpful tips and thought exercises to help out our listeners who are or are about to be faced with this challenge. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
From running a controlled experiment to running a linear regression. From eyeballing a line chart to calculating the correlation of first differences. From performing a cluster analysis because that’s what the business partner asked for to gently probing for details on the underlying business question before agreeing to an approach. There are countless analytical methodologies available to the analyst, but which one is best for any given situation? Simon Jackson from Hypergrowth Data joined Moe, Julie, and Tim on the latest episode to try to get some clarity on the topic. We haven’t figured out which methodology to use to analyze whether we succeeded, so you’ll just have to listen and judge for yourself. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
You know you’ve arrived as a broadcast presence when you open up the phone lines and get your first, "Long time listener, first time caller" person dialing in. Apparently, we have not yet arrived, because no one opened with that when they sent in their questions for this show. Our question is: why not?! Alas! That is a question not answered on this episode. Instead, we got the whole crew together and fielded questions from listeners that were actually worth attempting to answer, and we had a blast doing it! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
In order to produce a stellar analysis, have you ever requested a team to teardown a Tesla and count every last washer and battery cell? No? Well our guest this week, Jason DeRise, joined Tim, Julie, and Val to share that story and others on how alternative data can be used to enrich analyses. Luckily you don’t have to have a Wall Street-sized budget in order to tap into the power of alternative data. Looking just outside your tried and true data sets and methodologies to see how you might be able to add to your mosaic of understanding a business question can be powerful! In this episode we talk about some of the considerations and approaches when you put down that hammer and see the world around you is more than just a bunch of nails. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
It happens occasionally. Someone in the business decides they need to just take the analysis into their own hands. That leaves the analyst conflicted — love the interest and enthusiasm, but cringe at the risk of misuse or misinterpretation. Occasionally (rarely!), though, such a person goes so deep that they come out the other side having internalized everything from Deming's obsession with variability all the way through the Amazon Weekly Business Review (WBR) process. And they've written extensively about it. Cedric Chin was such a person, and we had a blast digging into his exploration of statistical process control — including XmR charts — and mulling over the broader ramifications and lessons therein. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
Data communities have played a major role in the careers of many analysts, but times they are a-changin'. We're not sure if we're different, if the communities' purposes and missions have shifted, or both. One thing we are confident in, though, is that Pedram Navid was absolutely the right guest to invite on to the show to explore the topic alongside Michael, Moe, and Val. His blog post last year that discussed how "this used to be fun" was a great reflection on some of the environmental trends influencing the communities we've come to know and love. But don't worry, it’s not all doom and gloom! The crew all agreed that there are still places and ways for data practitioners to connect and support each other, even if it doesn't look identical to the early aughts. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
Long-time listeners to this show know that its origin and inspiration was the lobby bar of analytics conferences—the place where analysts casually gather to unwind after a day of slides interspersed with between-session conversations initiated awkwardly and then ended abruptly when the next session begins. Of the many conferences where this occurs, Marketing Analytics Summit (née, eMetrics) is the one in which this show is most deeply rooted. And, we'll be recording an episode in front of a live audience with all of the North America-based co-hosts on Friday, June 7, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona at the next one! To call that out, including announcing a promo code for any listeners interested in joining us for the event, Michael, Val, and Tim turned on the mics for a bonus episode with a little reminiscing about past experiences at the conference, including Val's mildly disturbing retention of dates and physical artifacts. Visit the show page for, well, not much more than you see here.
As a general rule, analysts are drawn to precision: let's understand the business problem and then go figure out how the data can be acquired and crunched to provide something specific and useful. Fair enough. Where, then, do pencil and paper and 10-second sketches fit in? Or hastily and collaboratively drawn flippy chart or whiteboard sketches? We could draw you a picture to explain, but podcasts are an audio medium, so, instead, we brought on the illustrious illustrator, consultant, and author, Dan White. From triangles, to rolling snowballs, to trees, to Venn diagrams, to the conjoined triangles of success, this episode paints a pretty clear picture of the power of the quick sketch! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
They say an analysis is only as good as the question that was asked, so for our 2024 International Women's Day Episode, Julie, Moe, and Val were joined by Taylor Buonocore Guthrie to discuss how to ask better questions. Every analyst is naturally curious, but the thoughtfulness that Taylor puts into what type of questions to ask, how to ask them, and when to ask them to get the optimal response is truly an art form. Instead of drilling the five-whys the next time you are gathering context with a business partner for an analysis or conducting discovery interviews, try prompting them with, "Can you walk me through your thinking?" or "What else is important for me to know?" to gather the right context and clarify your understanding. We can't wait for you to hear all of the practical advice and suggestions for things you might consider incorporating into your repertoire! For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.
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Great episode. Fast simulations, precise enough to drive decisions, repeat to get uncertainty. Love it
what is the book she said at 13:40? i really would like to know