Political Parties and U.S. House — Who Needs Data Visualization? (#5)

This tiny table tells a powerful story: in the fifteen presidential election years, the incumbent president’s party shows an average gain

Choosing Health Insurance #2 – the “Side Effects”

Data visualization and the side effects of choosing a health care plan…part 2.

The U.S. House of Reps, and Data Visualization (#2)

The whole point of a graph is to give the reader a quick, easily comprehensible visual impression of the data, so even small changes can be critically important.

Choosing Health Insurance – More Data Visualization

We shift gears from recent posts to address a critical – and extremely timely – decision: choosing a health insurance plan, which you must do by 12/15 if you want a new plan in place by 1/1/15. If you’re a finance professional, you

External Data: Radar For Your Business

How much of your business performance (profit) is driven by external factors versus internal? A figure of 85% compared to 15% was mentioned at last month’s Manufacturing Analytics Summit, and although I could not find the study mentioned to confirm, it feels about right to me. Certainly more than half, right? So, how much of yourdashboard reporting and KPI metrics incorporate external data?

Analytics – Easy as One, Two, Tree

Insights from decision trees and other basic analytic techniques show that you don’t always need complex analytics to solve business problems and add value. This was the message from Dr. James (Jim) Foster, Director of Research and Process Development, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), at last month’s inaugural IE Group ‘Manufacturing Analytics Summit’ in Chicago, which I had the great privilege to chair for both days.

Tell the Story

What’s the story of your organization, your business?

There’s a story there, there always is. Numbers on a spreadsheet don’t do it justice. Yes, there is the annual report, but first, who reads it, and second, that’s just the point – it’s “annual”. The story of your business is dynamic, it runs all year long, 24/7. Numbers and metrics are only part of if.

It Sure Is Noisy Around Here

This is what the combination of analytics and visualization does best – together they filter out the noise so that you are left with the core concerns. Decision making under uncertainty is tough enough – no sense wasting time and effort striving for precision and accuracy around the WRONG variables or issues. No matter how you choose to mix your metaphors, data visualization turns down the noise so that you can hear yourself think.