Today’s Manager and Big Data
Managerial analytics is defined as optimizing the data sets you have in order to consistently make successful decisions and provide the right solutions to solve key business problems. But here’s the unvarnished truth: managers/executives have to have the skills, knowledge and insights to understand the processes involved with working with all kinds data. Do you need to know how to program in R or SQL? I say no, that’s not your job – leave those types of data analysis skills to the wizards who can program in R or SQL or any other data analytics language. It’s about being able to lead as a manager with a deep understanding of the various processes built into working with data. As managers, we can never accept the output from data analysis for face value. We need to be able to ask enough questions to make sure that the data insights we are reviewing have been validated and are balanced.
Instead, what managers need to be able to do is to manage the analytics process: business analysts, data analysts and data scientists. As a manager/executive, you want to be able to understand where your data is and how can the data can be leveraged so that better decisions can be made to solve problems. Managers need to be able to understand the basis for how data is managed and what data ingredients are necessary to gain insights. I'm not talking about being able to read a balance sheet or a P&L, or to be able decipher basic dashboards. Those kinds of “analytics” skills are always important to managers and executives.
“Big data” should not cause us to freeze up and wonder where to start. It starts by asking the question: what are we trying to solve for? In my experience, this is the least often asked question. Much time and resources are wasted working on solving the wrong problem. The ability to refine and define the problem is a critical managerial skill. Being able to understand and speak the language of the data analytics or the data scientist is even more critical today.
So, my advice is, wherever you are in the enterprise, invest in taking some classes on how you as a manager can get the most out of data analytics and big data. It’s probably one of the best things you can do, not only for your employer but also for your career.