Superhero Lessons in Analytics Ep. XXIII
42 Critical Concepts Revisited In Our Season Finale
Our seasons run a little long, we are clearly no Netflix. I guess we are a bit more like Game of Thrones. Our series began just over two years ago and we have finally reached episode number 23. That’s a season! And a good time to revisit old episodes before a well deserved (but short) break. More on that at the end.
Episode I — It all began with the Flash!
The CW’s top superhero show (which has its own finale tonight) features a “speedster”. While most of us have no need to keep up with the speed of the Flash — the world of analytics is accelerating. The gang in Central City compensates and accelerates their own analytics through strong teamwork.
Episode II — Even though it really all began with Arrow…
CW’s Arrow started it all (well unless you wanted to go Smallville, but that is a longer history). History is important for most analytics. Just as it provides context about Oliver Queen, it also provides context for data. History builds trust, but it takes far more to keep it.
Episode III — Some things defy expectation
When Legends launched as the third member of the CW line-up, I had high expectations. Unfortunately, probability and consequence intervened. Quite honestly, Legends may struggle more with both concepts than many analysts. For both, it is a challenge.
Episode IV — Beyond the CW…
Remember Heroes? It seems like forever now. We finally stepped beyond the CW when Heroes was “Reborn”. The reborn story line created special emphasis on causality (a concept we visited twice in this series) and the idea of inflection points. Heroes models the complexity and intrigue of these ideas, as well as the danger of misjudging them.
Episode V — A Blast From The 80s
If some of you have forgotten Heroes, many of you weren’t born when we were introduced to the Greatest American Hero. As a kid I loved the show. As an analyst, I recognize the importance of documentation and trial & error. The show itself was a comedy of errors, super powered ones.
Episode VI — Revenge of the Nerds?
Well, just one nerd really. Chuck showed us both the power and the limits of information. This is another show feeling ever more distant these days. “Hey guys, I know Kung Fu!”
Episode VII — Forget The Hoff
If nerds can save the day, so too can the technology. Let’s face it — Hasselhoff wasn’t the star of Knight Rider, KITT was. And unlike his finacky human counterpart, KITT had little issue with the support role. Both support and technology feature heavily in the career of all analysts.
Episode VIII — Even Really Bad Stories Have Value
Nightman was bad. Really bad. It was full of logical inconsistency and poor attribution. But analyst can learn from that, too.
Episode IX — When Heroes Are Hard To Come By…
When we first wrote about Gotham, it lacked any real heroes (sorry, Jim Gordon doesn’t count in this Batman story line). It is interesting in both Gotham and analytics what happens when there is a lack of structure and accountability. Spoiler — villains may have more to say in Season 2.
Episode X — On To The Big Screen!
Who better than the X-men to teach team building. I am not saying they are good at it, but they sure do it a lot. Who better than Professor X to teach mentoring. Could their be a better inspiration for episode X?
Episode XI — Things Got A Little Trippy
Legion is not a story for the multi-tasker. Its message is deep and mysterious. It is a great case study for memory and storytelling. So good — we will see it again.
Episode XII — There Was Even A Civil War
We turned to the Avengers around mid-season. We also revisited causality. But with the shenanigans of this crew, we also had a crack at Cost Benefit Analysis.
Episode XIII — But Large Or Small
Ant-man is returning to theatres soon. We used our miniature… wait, giant?hero to teach an analytic lesson on defining resolution.
Episode XIV — A Good Story… Or Not
Uggh, Inhumans did not live up to my expectations given the cast. But using Karnak, we were able to dig deeper into two very real super powers — Science & Discipline.
Episode XV — The Lessons Kept Coming
The first season of the Gifted was truly excellent. Here is hoping Season Two can follow suit. We used inspiration from season one to build lessons in tracking and data collection.
Episode XVI — Even Beyond Cable
No, this isn’t a commercial for DP2. Although, I love Deadpool’s nonsense. Frank Castle taught us a few lessons on nonsense, as well. He also gave us a second lesson on support.
Episode XVII — And Into The World Of Magic & Education
Are Magician superheroes? We think so. We love that series’ take on both education and exploration, but then we are a company dedicated to analytic education named after pirates (with a license)…
Episode XVIII — Beyond Sight
If it all started with CW, Netflix saved the genre. While things have gotten rocky in the Arrow-verse, Daredevil launched a new fleet of great titles. IN this episode, we used the character Stick from that series for lessons in analysis & decision-making.
Episode XIX — Sometimes Beyond Reason…
Are David Haller and Douglas Hofstadter related? Let’s face it — a very small percentage of people in this universe understand that joke. Fewer still will appreciate it. Legion was back in this episode for a lesson in surfaces & essences. Also the title of a great book.
Episode XX — And Belief
For a lesson on behavior and bias, who better than an omniscient evil genius? Beware, many analysts are thwarted by this same duo.
Episode XXI — A True First… Even If No One Appreciates It
Remember Blade? Seems no one in the media does… Hollywood’s true first R-rated, Anti-hero, with nice skin color doesn’t care. Under appreciated or not, he knows that sometime it is all about survival. Analysts would do well to take a lesson.
Episode XXII — And Then It Was Over
Sadly, over-complicated and over-hyped. Did we go out on a low? Or was this just a cliffhanger? Either way, with the Data Science phenomenon looming — it was an overdue lesson.
Season II — Superheroes Will Return
Superhero Lessons in Analytics will return next season! By that we mean Fall 2018. Thanks for reading!
