“The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a recommendation.” — Walter Isaacson/Elon Musk We live in a spreadsheet society. Columns of Categories of People and Rows of Wants, Needs, and Desires. This model is too simplistic. What is needed, and Big Data can provide, is a more sophisticated approach.
In our forthcoming book, “Navigating the Data Minefields: Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making” we coined the term, Valid, Reliable and Timely (VRT). “This term identifies all data dimensions including its temporal component.” Check Up When we go to the doctor we expect that the information conferred by this professional is Correct, Consistent with the current
President George H.W. Bush famously quipped, “Read my lips: No new taxes.” He went on to raise taxes and many believed this contributed to the reason he did not serve a second term. Another famous saying, in 1971 an automobile engine oil filter manufacturer heavily advertised their product using the threat, “You can pay me
According to Cambridge Dictionary the title term is defined as, Not real, or existing only in order to deceive people.” We live in a world when lies are tossed around with impunity. Politician lie, school boards withhold from parents and the news is decried as fake by both sides of the political isle. How does
The current president of the United States is 80 years old. He has indicated that that he will run for a second term. If reelected, at the end of that terminus he will be 86! Is that too old to run a country? The Speaker of the House is 80, and her peers include a number of
Attributed to the late Martha Mitchell, wife of the then Attorney General Oxford defines it as “A misinterpretation of a person’s justified belief as a delusion, often by a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or general practitioner.” Climate deniers, election deniers, COVID vaccine deniers, The Science deniers and all kind of deniers. Treated as delusional and even
First it was Covid-19 and now a Recession? Is a Global Military Conflict on the Horizon as well? Social, economic and personal pressures continue to mount. There is already evidence of Reductions in Force, (RIF) aka layoffs are underway or planned. With consumers stretched to the max, higher interest rates, equity markets in retreat and
One newscaster recently used the metaphor of the sun setting in the west as settled science so contrary views were not newsworthy. His argument–Fairness is Over Rated! What? One wonders whether this is true for those who believe the world is round or for those in the Flat Earth Society? Yet most political commentary and
Update: Just after we published this edition, Goldman Sachs released this comprehensive research piece; Stagflation Risk. Recently, one media outlet raised the suggestion of government price controls. Generally, seen as a bad idea, none-the-less in this inflationary environment, some may perceive value from an action of this kind. Additionally, in the current environment some politicians
This edition marks the 100th post in our Critical Mass Blog series. We have sought to provide thoughtful, unbiased insight into the contemporary business and organizational challenges we all face. Since our first blog post on November 27, 2017 our world has turned over in ways none expected. Likely, this trend will continue. This series
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team Models There is a tendency to see DEI through the lens of initiatives or often a process semi-outside the daily ‘organizational’ grind. Does this represent reality? Organizations spend countless sums training employees and others they depend on for Operational Excellence performance. They often trust global Teams to add stakeholder
Almost every day, we hear that “The Science” says . . . We are told Covid-19 and Climate Change are based on The Science and as such we must accept that expert analyses as ‘settled.’ Then something changes and once more the science police demand we accept their new interpretation. The near-term result: confusion and
The writing instrument, the pencil is purported to have been invented in 1795. It has been around for a while and continues to serve a useful purpose. In the following video, the late economist Milton Friedman describes the process for manufacturing this simple longstanding tool. The point he makes is that regardless of the simplicity
Awash with data, how many decisions made actually use it to add value? Too few one suspects and partly because decision-making systems are not designed for this volume. Much is made about Big Data and the value it can add to a business. However, there is little said about the software applications and compute power that
Watching one of the Sunday morning political news shows recently, as yet another pol described that the ‘science is changing‘ and mentioning the results of new data, it dawned on me that smart individuals are conflating science with data. By one definition, Science is “he intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the
Picture sourced from LinkedIn, author unknown. It seems like there are a lot of answers these days, even to questions that have not been posed. As of this writing, this author understands that masks work for Covid-19 but vaccines not so much although we are advised to get the shots and even a third one
Attributed to former US Senator and Governor Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, “Trust is built with consistency.” Moreover, from statistics we know that Internal Consistency, “measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores.” The follow on definition statistical reliability, “is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring
I Need a Book Deal! With the change of the US federal administration, previous key individuals are now coming out and writing books regarding their former boss. This all the while with plenty of video evidence where these individuals pontificated a position and even changed their position dramatically while in the employ and in
Not the So-Called New Normal The light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel may not be the train many still believe. Populations are being inoculated at very high rates. Moreover, there is ample evidence in my metropolitan area that the general population no longer believes or adheres to the ‘advice of experts.’ This
A Year of Leadership–Or Not! On March 2, 2021 the Governor of Texas announced its 100% reopening–effectively proclaiming an end of the Covid-19 crisis. Needless to say in our hyper-partisan world, many widely decried the decision and even accused him or bringing physical death to the state population. Mississippi announced a similar rollback of virus
Recently, my team and I were tasked with a delicate decision making process. Due to its nature and signatory level, team members were only authorized to explore and present options. The final decision was mine alone. Our project governance model clearly defined this decision making process. One day I received a call from remote members
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” ~ W. Edwards Deming Data and its use is a very hot topic these days. Significant controversy exists over decision making regarding Covid-19 strategies and the quality or lack there of the data supporting government policies. Scientific disagreements and so called ‘academic arguments‘ are appropriate, especially
Salute Ladies and Gentlemen! December 7, 1941 was 79 years ago. A twenty-year-old at the time would be 99 today, almost a centenarian. My father is 98 and not likely to see 2021. We live in a technological age, and despite the pandemic it is relatively easy living for many. No one is asking our
Crisis Drives Change In 2001 this writer approached the Houston medical community, post tropical storm Allison which flooded many basements in the Houston Medical Center with the loss of experimental data and other records. We proposed the development of an Internet based solution to hold and manage medical records of all types. The response to
A friend of mine sent me this uncited picture, so my apologies to the originator as I cannot give you the rightful credit deserved. If you see this, let me know and I will update this blog. We are all enduring 2020 in our own way. Sometimes positive but often negative. Battling my own 2020
“If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong” Our point today is to assess how behavioral decisions are being made today; not about the politics of one candidate or the other. The race to the US presidential election has entered its final phase. As of this writing, establishment wisdom holds the conventional candidate as the presumptive
“If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong”—Richard Feynman Full Disclosure: this author holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. My doctoral dissertation developed a new Game Theory based practical solution. For those unfamiliar with this discipline, check out the movie Beautiful Mind or the work of John von Neumann
Managing Tension at the Margin As September draws to a close the Houston metropolitan area has dodged two hurricane bullets; Laura and Beta. Fingers crossed that this very active season draws to an early and quiet close. The beauty and downside of the 24/7 news and weather reporting is that lay people learn more jargon
The battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 with over 200,000 individuals involved is possibly the largest naval battle in history. Hopefully, one of the last ones. In that battle, the submarine USS Darter initially detected (on radar) the Japanese task force early on October 23. Other US naval vessels spotted that armada shortly thereafter on
In statistics a Latent Variable can be defined as, ‘a variable inferred from observed or measured data.’ Its analysis is often used psychology, economics, and predictive modeling. This author used Structural Equation Models (SEM) in his 1996 doctoral dissertation, Cross Cultural Negotiations Between Japanese and American Businessmen: A Systems Analysis (Exploratory Study). From that abstract,
