Hi ,
There's a scene at the start of Moneyball where the members of the Oakland A's scouting department gather to select the line-up for the upcoming baseball season.
What makes the scene hilarious is the reasons the scouts give for selecting or rejecting players, including:
- "He swings like a man."
- "He's got an ugly girlfriend. Ugly girlfriend means no confidence."
- "When he hits, it sounds like he's droppin' a firecracker at his feet."
- "Clean cut, good face, good
jaw. He's the real deal."
- "Kid wears a large pair of underwear."
Basically, everything *except* what it takes to actually win a game of baseball.
At no point do the scouts look at the data. They are effectively just guessing.
Here's the Thing...
When you see it in a movie, it's easy to laugh at decision-making via guessing, but how often do we do the same in our own lives and our jobs?
For many organisations, this is exactly what occurs on a daily basis - because if you don't consider the data, guessing is all you can do.
But this is where data science can shine.
Although most data scientists equate data science with
predictive modelling, even the simplest techniques that allow business decision-makers to improve the quality of their decisions can make an enormous difference to a business's bottom line.
Just like with the Oakland A's, data can transform decision-makers into winners.
I recently had the opportunity to speak to Interview Valet founder and Chief Evangelist Officer Tom Schwab about how he uses data to optimise business results in podcast interview marketing and moved his business away from "podcast guessing".
To listen to our conversation, click the link here: Episode 35: Data-Driven Podcasting
Talk again soon,
Dr Genevieve Hayes.
