Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results
One book, placed in its field — what Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, Robert Morison's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data · peopleanalyst.com/guides/profile-analytics_at_work_smarter_decisions_better
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Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results
One book, placed in its field — what Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, Robert Morison's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data · peopleanalyst.com/guides/profile-analytics_at_work_smarter_decisions_better
The problem
Business performance and results erodes when it is left to instinct instead of method.
You were taught the moves piecemeal, never the whole model.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
The model
- 01Accessible High-Quality Data
- 02Enterprise Orientation
- 03Analytical Leadership
- 04Strategic Analytical Targets
- 05Analyst Talent Capability
- 06Embedded Analytics in Business Processes
- 07Analytical Culture
- 08Continuous Review and Model Management
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Step 1 of 5 · Accessible High-Quality Data
Data managed for transactions must be restructured before it supports analysis; the two purposes demand different organization.
Misconception
Practitioners believe that having lots of data—or a shiny data warehouse—means their data is analytics-ready.
Reality
Transactional data optimized for recording sales is structured wrong for modeling behavior; readiness is about integration, definition consistency, and governance, not volume or storage technology.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Step 2 of 5 · Enterprise Orientation
Coordination beats centralization; the goal is comparable, reusable analysis, not a single org box.
Misconception
Leaders assume enterprise coordination means centralizing all analysts into one corporate group.
Reality
Enterprise orientation is about shared standards, definitions, and coordination—not physical centralization; distributed analysts can be perfectly coordinated, and centralized ones can still work at cross purposes.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Step 3 of 5 · Analytical Leadership
Analytical leadership is defined by what leaders do in decision moments, not by their technical background.
Misconception
People assume analytical leadership requires a quant-trained CEO or a Chief Analytics Officer at the top.
Reality
The most effective analytical leadership is behavioral, not credentialed, and often emerges from mid-level managers who consistently ask for evidence and act on it; a non-technical leader who demands rigor outperforms a data scientist who doesn't.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Step 4 of 5 · Strategic Analytical Targets
Concentration on a few high-value targets beats broad coverage for driving actual performance.
Misconception
Teams believe they should democratize analytics broadly and let a thousand use cases bloom.
Reality
Analytical resources are finite, and diffusing them across many small projects yields cosmetic wins; concentrating on a few processes that drive differentiation is what produces measurable performance and competitive separation.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Step 5 of 5 · Analyst Talent Capability
A balanced talent mix matters more than the raw count of elite data scientists.
Misconception
Organizations think analyst capability means hiring more PhD data scientists.
Reality
Capability is a balanced portfolio—senior champions who translate business problems, professionals who build models, and semiprofessionals and amateurs who apply them—so that adding elite modelers without the surrounding roles leaves the pipeline broken at both ends.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
A framework to use
The DELTA Framework for Analytical Capability
This framework is part of the full guide. See the guide →
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
The cheat sheet
- Accessible High-Quality DataData managed for transactions must be restructured before it supports analysis; the two purposes demand different organization.
- Enterprise OrientationCoordination beats centralization; the goal is comparable, reusable analysis, not a single org box.
- Analytical LeadershipAnalytical leadership is defined by what leaders do in decision moments, not by their technical background.
- Strategic Analytical TargetsConcentration on a few high-value targets beats broad coverage for driving actual performance.
- Analyst Talent CapabilityA balanced talent mix matters more than the raw count of elite data scientists.
- Embedded Analytics in Business ProcessesEmbedding turns analysis from something people consult into something the process does.
- Analytical CultureAnalytical culture lives in how disagreements get resolved, not in how many people took the training.
- Continuous Review and Model ManagementA model is a perishable asset; schedule its review as deliberately as you scheduled its build.
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data
Sources
- Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results — Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, Robert Morison
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results · Mike West, Editor · Leading With Data