After three months of thinking, planning, and a little bit of doing, I am seeing positive changes in our business as a result of more effective application of information.
Two weeks ago, I was asked to slightly alter one of my daily reports. The impact of the change has spurred the business on dramatically. We are now able to directly impact our partners’ behavior, on a daily basis, based on new information and an understanding of the trends in day-to-day operations.
It’s gratifying to see an actual, measurable impact of business intelligence on performance. My working definition of knowledge has been “actionable, measurable information.” Armed with this idea, we have been able, over the past two weeks, to turn performance around and see a significant increase in what will eventually become revenue numbers. Looking at near-term historical performance has allowed us to change the future.
Understanding where your current state comes from has practical relevance to defining where you will go next. As George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Life of Reason, “Reason in Common Sense.” Scribner’s: 1905. 284 — I admit I am indebted to Google Answers for that reference).
The side-benefit is that, in this case, it also validates the information anarchist — I mean “senior reporting analyst.”