On Big Data

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Big data is all the rage these days. Big consulting houses and IT touts assure us that the next big breakthrough is just around the corner.

And all we need is self-appointed experts and super computers that crunch through all our ‘data’ and make sense of everything for us.

Don’t’ want to be misunderstood. There is a place for experts and for super computers, and the wise are always open to new thinking.

But do we really believe that Big Data is going to solve our problems?

Do we even understand our ‘small data’? In other words, do we understand our current condition? Stuff like:

• Purpose
• Core metrics
• Targets versus Actual
• Trends & patterns

• Top 3 acute problems
• Top 3 chronic problems
• Degree of engagement of our teams
• Problem solving capability of our teams
• Overall capability of our team members
• Capability of our machines & equipment
• Capability of our processes

And these questions, of course, apply at each level of our management system from Level 1 – front line on up.

Comparatively few organizations can answer these questions in the affirmative.

Truth be told, many (most?) organizations flounder about in the fog of Big Company Disease [The Remedy], no?

It’s not incompetence or ill will. It is the nature of large organizations, organisms that are still comparative newcomers to the human scene.

It takes great skill and tenacity to disperse the fog, and keep it from seeping back in. Companies that thereby understand their ‘small data’ are akin to the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind.

So before we grasp at the straws of Big Data, let’s build our management systems so we can understand our ‘small data’ – like the world’s best organizations do.

Regards,

Pascal



In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Why Lean Outside the Factory?
Too Often, Power Means the Power to Do Stupid Things
When You’re Convinced You’re Right, You’ve Lost Your Ability to Learn
On Labels – ‘Expert, Master, Sensei’ and the like

Big Data & PDCA

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

LPI Back to Basics Series, Part 2

"Big Data" is all over the Net, and rightly so.

Burgeoning computer horsepower means we're able to crunch numbers like never before.

Manufacturing, Marketing, Human Resources etc. will be able illuminate opaque areas.

Billions of data points -- molecular, customer and team member behaviour, for example -- can be analyzed, patterns identified and conclusions drawn.

Is that it, then? Can we fold up the management tent and let the computer figure things out for us? Can we outsource thinking?

Hardly...

Big Data, wedded to PDCA, is a blessing. Divorced from PDCA, it may become a curse.

Big Data can help us make correlations -- "When we do this, that happens." -- which inform our PDCA cycle.

But it's up to us to

• Develop hypotheses,
• Design & run experiments,
• Reflect on the analyses, and
• Adjust our hypotheses

It up to us to recognize the data that's missing, unknown or unknowable.

Deming, the consummate data guy, taught us that some things can't be measured.

How do you measure esprit de corps, indomitable courage, a sense of optimism, or simple decency?

Yet great battles and fortunes, achievement and honor, often turn on such unmeasurables.

As ever, technology, in this case, Big Data, comes to fruition only through the application of human finesse and intelligence.

So let's celebrate the Big Data's potential. Let's figure out how to use it to illuminate undiscovered countries.

But let's not outsource our responsibility to learn & grow.

Best,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

PDCA - the Pounding Heart Muscle of Life
Yokoten, Meta-cognition and Leadership
Caffé Macaroni and Italian Design?
The Loneliness of the Small Business Owner

On Big Data

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Big data is all the rage these days. Big consulting houses and IT touts assure us that the next big breakthrough is just around the corner.

And all we need is self-appointed experts and super computers that crunch through all our ‘data’ and make sense of everything for us.

Don’t’ want to be misunderstood. There is a place for experts and for super computers, and the wise are always open to new thinking.

But do we really believe that Big Data is going to solve our problems?

Do we even understand our ‘small data’? In other words, do we understand our current condition? Stuff like:

• Purpose
• Core metrics
• Targets versus Actual
• Trends & patterns

• Top 3 acute problems
• Top 3 chronic problems
• Degree of engagement of our teams
• Problem solving capability of our teams
• Overall capability of our team members
• Capability of our machines & equipment
• Capability of our processes

And these questions, of course, apply at each level of our management system from Level 1 – front line on up.

Comparatively few organizations can answer these questions in the affirmative.

Truth be told, many (most?) organizations flounder about in the fog of Big Company Disease [The Remedy], no?

It’s not incompetence or ill will. It is the nature of large organizations, organisms that are still comparative newcomers to the human scene.

It takes great skill and tenacity to disperse the fog, and keep it from seeping back in. Companies that thereby understand their ‘small data’ are akin to the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind.

So before we grasp at the straws of Big Data, let’s build our management systems so we can understand our ‘small data’ – like the world’s best organizations do.

Regards,

Pascal

Big Data & PDCA

By Pascal Dennis

LPI Back to Basics Series, Part 2

"Big Data" is all over the Net, and rightly so.

Burgeoning computer horsepower means we're able to crunch numbers like never before.

Manufacturing, Marketing, Human Resources etc. will be able illuminate opaque areas.

Billions of data points -- molecular, customer and team member behaviour, for example -- can be analyzed, patterns identified and conclusions drawn.

Is that it, then? Can we fold up the management tent and let the computer figure things out for us? Can we outsource thinking?

Hardly...

Big Data, wedded to PDCA, is a blessing. Divorced from PDCA, it may become a curse.

Big Data can help us make correlations -- "When we do this, that happens." -- which inform our PDCA cycle.

But it's up to us to

• Develop hypotheses,
• Design & run experiments,
• Reflect on the analyses, and
• Adjust our hypotheses

It up to us to recognize the data that's missing, unknown or unknowable.

Deming, the consummate data guy, taught us that some things can't be measured.

How do you measure esprit de corps, indomitable courage, a sense of optimism, or simple decency?

Yet great battles and fortunes, achievement and honor, often turn on such unmeasurables.

As ever, technology, in this case, Big Data, comes to fruition only through the application of human finesse and intelligence.

So let's celebrate the Big Data's potential. Let's figure out how to use it to illuminate undiscovered countries.

But let's not outsource our responsibility to learn & grow.

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio