Introduction To “Data-Driven Decision-Making”

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.  – Theodore Roosevelt 

Making Data-Driven Decisions is one of the mottos I live by. It simply and powerfully sums up what I believe in as an analyst. In order to make intelligent decisions in all aspects of a business, you need to have the right data at the right time. That is what analytics is all about.

Whether you dream of being an analyst, aspire to be a better analyst or hope to surround yourself with people skilled in analytics, you have to strive to be different. You have to look at data as having the answers and analytics as the key to determining which answers are the ones you need.

My love for analytics comes from many places. When I was a kid I used to collect baseball cards and memorize all the statistics on the back of the cards. When I got into college I took a lot of courses on student developmental theory and learned a lot about why people are the way there are.

I combined that passion with classroom teaching experience and then corporate training experience. During my time with Wells Fargo I was always the data guy or the reports guy, long before I had even heard of the term analytics.

All of these experiences have prepared me for what I do today; teach people about analytics and how to use analysis to make data-driven decisions.

My book, “Data-Driven Decision-Making”, is in it final stages and will be ready for publishing within a matter of weeks.