Driving curiosity as a culture in an analytics organization

During this decade, we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in information coupled with growth in technology, which has made access to information easy. This, in turn, has given rise to innovation and made the analytics business world spin faster than ever. Every time we turn around, we see a new technology or perspective coming our way.

As a result, curiosity and continuous learning have become critical qualities for the analytics professional, but the biggest challenge is knowing what to learn and where to explore. Even the brightest minds find the following challenges:

• Analytics is a moving target; with many options to explore but limited time and resources, deciding what to learn is crucial.
  
  
• Mastering the art of un-learning and then re-learning is a difficult task.
  
  
• For mid-level managers, it is important to understand the latest industry trends and innovation.
  
  
• For senior managers, it is important to understand what business impacts new innovations can bring.
  
  
• When it comes to learning, it’s human nature to be impatient. While self-learning, professionals tend to jump or skip around key concepts. In the end, they do not properly understand the concepts and wind up unmotivated after losing their investment of time and resources.

These are the challenges faced by senior managers and leaders of organizations focused on business analytics. In a dynamic world where technology and ideas move and change with the blink of an eye, direct reports (DR) need to step up by helping their respective managers in determining the goals and required knowledge that are in line with the company’s overall business objectives while keeping pace with the competition.

In appraisal interviews, the manager should ask his or her DR:

• What should I do to get my next promotion?
  
  
• How can you help me?
  
  
• What should I do to help you in helping me?

Distributed thinking

Recent growth in the analytics industry is attributed to the fact that organizations are able to implement distributed computing. If they are able to implement distributed thinking, there will be a paradigm shift in the industry. Driving curiosity as a culture is an approach to implement distributed thinking.

The first question is important in promoting innovative thinking. Whenever new ideas are discussed, the DR should be motivated to explore those ideas and innovate and hence develop a vision. Questions 2 and 3 will ensure that that innovative thought is implementable, measurable and aligned to the company’s business objective.

Years back, the knowledge and understanding level in organizations was somewhat laddered. The more senior you were in the organization, the higher you were on the ladder, the more you knew. Managers generally knew and understood more about the company’s business than their DRs. However, with the rise in freely available and easily accessible information, it is now a different ball game. The knowledge level and understanding of the business is more disperse. Today, many DRs may know and understand more than their managers when it comes to the company’s business. In fact, progressive managers and senior leaders should make DRs responsible to learn more, and DRs should have the obligation to tell or teach their superiors what they do not know or understand.

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the attitude of senior management and leadership in the current dynamic scenario. Going forward, successful managers and leaders will be those who would have mastered the art of listening to their DRs, and successful DRs will be those who keep their eyes open for knowledge in this fast-moving market and then observe and assimilate whatever is relevant for their company’s benefit. They need to up the ante in their maturity level by transferring the knowledge into implementable practical actions in their respective organizations.

This attitude is routinely followed by most companies at the CXO level. The difference between great organizations and others is that in great organizations this strategy is also followed at the most junior level.