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Moving Beyond Smart Part Numbers
During a process review session this week, I got involved in a terrific conversation about Smart Part Numbers. You know what I’m talking about – those cryptic SKU identifiers so popular with the folks in the warehouse, on the shop floor, in...
Developing an IT Strategy: Timing
In some companies, IT struggles to find a voice amid the other functional areas of the business – Finance, Operations, Sales and Marketing, even Human Resources. “Business Alignment”, a regular item on lists of Top 5 IT Concerns each year, pops up...
Google+ is Active, not Passive, Social Networking
This past week saw the introduction of Google+, the search behemoth’s entry into the social networking fray. A slew of posts, articles, opinion pieces, etc. were sure to flow - and as I settled down with some time and a backlog of links to review,...
The Hegemony of Large Numbers – Ignoring Common Sense
Ok, maybe I’m stretching the meaning there, but that’s a cool sounding title, and what I see as an interesting phenomenon. People get excited about Large Numbers, and think they have meaning and importance simply because they are Large Numbers. The...
Data Darwinism: Market Driven Data Quality
Just trying a little contrarian thought this week … Have you ever noticed how much time and energy goes in to data validation?I think it stems from visual forms development and the wide variety of clever data entry controls that are available –...
Learning About Data Visualization
Even though there is an art to visualization design, it stands to reason that this is a skill that can be taught / learned. I remember going to campus visits with my daughter, and hearing about a textbook considered to be a timeless classic --...
Art and Science of Data Visualization (Part 2)
Just a little more theory and background on Data Visualization, to eat up the rest of your weekend. Unlike the McCandless video, this video will take some time investment – but well worth it, if you want to charge your batteries on this topic. (via...
Art and Science of Data Visualization
“Data Visualization” has been an extremely active and popular topic for a few years – we can use Google’s Timeline search feature to see the growth in interest since 1980: That local high in July of this year was due in no small part to David...
Designing for Devices
The “last mile” of user/computer interaction has seen a number of exciting innovations over the past year or so. Phones are getting physically smaller, yet have bulked up their connectedness and capabilities – and the shrinking screen, now...
Design Thinking and Process – Is It In You?
Continuing a bit on my recent Design meme; I talk about the current relevance of design thinking, and the impact it can have on change management -- but if it feels a bit foreign, how can you tell if you have it in you? Do You Think Visually?...
Design and Change Management
I have developed a few strongly-held architectural beliefs, and one came up in conversation last week, during a spirited discussion on minimal quality requirements for a[ny] data mart. I hold that the data copied from source to destination must be...
A Little Too Literal (or, How to Teach Innovation)
Spoiler alert: It can’t be taught … What are you, somebody's lawyer? - Jim Dempsey, ca. 1984 One of the questions I get – and I’m getting this a lot lately – is how to get people to think more analytically, less literally. We need folks to stop...
