What would you pay to make better decisions?
The power of fractional analytic support & training for professionals
A good number of professionals would be better served to flip a coin rather than engage in their current process of decision-making. With the best of intentions and the strongest of drive, they trip over logical fallacies, cognitive bias, data illiteracy, disorganization, and delay. There are a lot of ways to make a bad decision!
Almost all professionals should consider the advantage of investing a single bitcoin (about $6K at the time of this writing) in a year of analytic support & training. Whether the decisions were better, faster, or merely outsourced (allowing them to seize other opportunities) — it is hard to imagine anything other than a positive return on that investment.
A Decision Point
We come to a point in this article when I can opt to convince you of the benefits of analytics or perhaps I should benchmark this investment? Should I flip a coin? Perhaps I should take a different perspective?
Humans are good at binary decisions. Not making them, just dealing with them. They are comfortable, easy, and therefore appealing. Many bad decisions are baked because the right answer was never an option. People fail to take perspective, to consider other angles and options.
My decision then is to both and neither. Wait, what?
Look $6K is $500 per month and less than most people’s car payments. Everyone knows that data & analytics in support of data-driven decision-making has value. Exactly how much is under contention — but likely you accept that $500 per month for data & analytic support is a steal!
What you are more likely struggling with is whether a $500 per month price point could be put on a service that really delivers the value you are looking for? That is not a bad question.
Could I ask a different one? What value are you looking for? If you can’t answer that, then at least tell me what you are benchmarking against?
Few people can answer that. They have only a vague concept.
The counter comes — well, I am not sure of the value but I really doubt it can be delivered for $500 per month. Okay, why? How much work will it take to deliver on the value you are looking for? Can I see your execution plan? Do you have a data inventory? What is your monetization strategy? Silence…
Here Is The Simple Secret
Analytics is iterative. Chunking it into $500 pieces is not difficult if you’ve been doing this a long time. Taking this further — perspective, planning, and process design are hugely value add functions. These steps can really move the needle, small steps making exceptional impacts. But the steps need to be taken at the right time, in the right order, and anchored with the right understanding of data capabilities.
But the story continues — or at least it should. Storytelling is powerful. Most people accept that as well, but then they learn that anecdotal stories are far less effective than their data-driven cousins. Could $500 dollars change your story from anecdotal to data-driven? Often. Sometimes it takes a few sessions, especially for longer stories. If you need a story to sell, to help others make the better decision, this opportunity is perfect.
The list goes on. Hiring is a huge decision. So are measurement plans, test development, and dashboard design. The impact of a badly engineered KPI is vastly unappreciated — until you experience it.
So what should you pay to make better decisions?
I honestly don’t know, but for $500 — you can figure that out. I willing to bet it is far more than $500.
To make better decisions — to tell better stories consider:
By the time I finished writing this article bitcoin is now at $6500. Purely coincidence but some of you just found that first $500!
