facts & feelings

YouTube video by facts & feelings Being Evidence-Driven in Uncertain Times

It’s hard to imagine NOT looking back on 2025 and seeing it as a period of dramatic uncertainty. In the hear and now, that can be panic-inducing. Is it possible to harness that panicked energy for good? We think so: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/being-eviden... youtu.be/U1sJdKb6IIM

Being Evidence-Driven in Uncertain Times In times of high uncertainty, historical data can be less useful. It’s still possible (critical, even!) to continue to be evidence-driven.

In his latest post, @tgwilson.bsky.social makes a case for navigating uncertainty by remaining evidence-driven by being simultaneously agile and focused. thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/being-eviden...

YouTube video by facts & feelings What it takes to truly tell audience-centric and action-oriented data stories

What are the story points required to truly tell audience-centric and action-oriented data stories? Well we're sure glad you asked, because we love talking about it! 📣 storieshttps://youtu.be/FzFhW8z8iOA

Audience-Centric Data Stories That Inspire Action What does it really mean to put your audience first? A hypothesis-driven method for telling data stories that inspire action!

When it comes to the data stories you share with your business partners, are you telling the story you want to tell or the story they need to hear? Read more from @valkroll.bsky.social in this recent article on The Focus!

thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/audience-cen...

Just Because You Have Eggs, Milk, and Sugar Doesn’t Mean You Have a Cake Having well intentioned people, software and data still doesn’t mean that you are effectively and consistently delivering business impact.

IF🥚+🥛+🍚≠🎂
THEN 🧑‍💻+ 📊+ 🤖 ≠ 💡
BECAUSE it might be time for an Analytics Reset 🫸🚨

Is it time to smash that reset button? Read (and watch!) more to find out:

thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/just-because...

Scaling the Impact of the Analytics Team in a Resource-Constrained World Analytics teams struggle to keep up requests from their business partners. “More analysts” isn’t the answer. An analytics reset might be.

What do Sean Hayes and Debra Messing reenacting the one of the greatest scenes in sitcom history have to do with the inbound requests analytics teams deal with? If you've guessed it's the chocolate factory scene, you're right. See @tgwilson.bsky.social: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/scaling-the-...

YouTube video by facts & feelings Some Signs That…You Might Need an Analytics Reset!

It started with a casual discussion about the various symptoms we see in organizations that they might really need to do a “reset” on how they think about & approach analytics. One thing led to another, & tgwilson.bsky.social had grabbed a mic and was channeling Jeff Foxworthy. youtu.be/SWMm6eTyKQE

The Signs That…You Might Need an Analytics Reset Simply growing what data gets collected and what’s included in dashboards often isn’t enough. Sometimes, a full analytics reset is needed.

Dashboards built that go unused. Monthly reports that grow until they collapse under their own weight. An analytics team burning out trying to handle the volume of inbound requests for data pulls and report updates. You *might* need an analytics reset! thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/the-signs-th...

It takes the whole organization—data teams *and* their business partners—to break out of the "all data...few insights" malaise. Our Head of Solutions makes a solid case, though, that business leaders are the ones best equipped to tighten their grip on those reins.

Our Head of Solutions co-authored a book, which we think is great! We're so proud, and it's some great content.

That doesn't mean we're not going to push him outside of his comfort zone with some of the promotion of it.

Analytics the Right Way: A Business Leader's Guide to Putting Data to Productive Use Analytics the Right Way: A Business Leader's Guide to Putting Data to Productive Use: 9781394264490: Computer Science Books @ Amazon.com

book link: www.amazon.com/Analytics-Ri...

#263: Analytics the Right Way - The Analytics Power Hour: Data and Analytics Podcast Every so often, one of the co-hosts of this podcast co-authors a book. And by “every so often” we mean “it’s happened once so far.” Tim, along with (multi-)past guest Dr. Joe Sutherland, just publishe...

podcast episode: analyticshour.io/2025/01/21/2...

YouTube video by facts & feelings Analytics The Right Way co-authors on the Analytics Power Hour podcast! #analytics #bookrelease

facts & feelings co-founder, @tgwilson.bsky.social co-authored a new book, Analytics The Right Way! He hopped on the mic with his co-hosts of the Analytics Power Hour to talk about the inspiration for the book as well as what he hopes readers will get out of it!

youtube.com/shorts/6Khud...

Analytics The Right Way: Is There A Book About Doing That? Organizations are awash in data, but leaders are often frustrated with the lack of value they’re getting from it. Can a book fix that?

It's launch week for @tgwilson.bsky.social's book, "Analytics the Right Way: A Business Leader's Guide to Putting Data to Productive Use." We're kicking it off with an overview of the book, including a taste of the ideas and illustrations it includes: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/analytics-th...

There’s Gold to Be Mined from That Thar’ Annual Plan! The annual planning process can be exhauting, which leads to considering its value being realized when the plan is “done.” That’s a miss!

Have you already put your annual plan on a shelf, or is it actively guiding your team's work? @tgwilson.bsky.social has some thoughts on ensuring it's the latter: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/theres-gold-...

Me: "What are your thoughts on posting a teaser video on BlueSky to promote links in to a video on LinkedIn & a post on Medium?"

Claude (for real): "The 1-minute video on BlueSky could work well as a hook if you structure it strategically."

We'll see.

Medium: bit.ly/3Db4bFy & LI: bit.ly/4a6BKF1

📅 2025 is just around the corner. Now is an excellent time to for a little collaborative reflection, and we’d love to be your sounding board! If you’d like to make yourself a cup of cocoa, get cozy in front of Zoom, and have a no-obligation chat, we’d love to do that! Book here: bit.ly/3VEpl5n

Back to Basics: Measuring the Impact of AI Every idea for implementing AI can be treated as a hypothesized (validatable) solution to a business problem and should be treated as such.

On the one hand, generative AI is completely new and different. On the other hand, it's "just" technology that organizations (should) employ as a means of delivering meaningful business outcomes. I have some thoughts about that: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/back-to-basi...

I’ve had a small epiphany (an insight‽) about…insights. The term is overused, but that overuse came from two different sources: 1) analytics, 2) market research. Here’s the 60-second version of me making that case. For the extended cut (still under 4 minutes), see www.linkedin.com/posts/tgwils...

a man in a suit and tie says " thank you " with his hands in the air ALT: a man in a suit and tie says " thank you " with his hands in the air

Hey folks, Bennett Brauer here. And boy, am I "grateful" that it's annual planning season again! Can't wait for more meetings where we "strategize our vision" and "drown in spreadsheets" only to have it ripped to pieces during the "streamlining phase." 🦃📊 #SoThankful www.linkedin.com/posts/valeri...

Once Upon a Metric: A Data Storytelling Parable Data storytelling has three distinct components, and doing it successfully requires critical pre-analysis focus, alignment, and thought.

What actually *is* a data story? We intuitively get what one looks like when it's delivered well, but what goes into creating one? @tgwilson.bsky.social broke it down into three dimensions in this piece: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/once-upon-a-...

Reclaim The Value of Your Annual Planning Process Annual Planning Processes are dreaded. Don’t settle for a box checking exercise. Take back the value with vision, focus and alignment.

Don't settle for an annual planning cycle that feels like a box checking exercise. Use goals to empower, excite and motivate teams for the work ahead!

thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/reclaim-the-...

Why It’s Easy to Yadda Yadda Strategic Planning but Impossible to Avoid the Cost of Apathy Strategic planning is the obligation we fake & procrastinate our way through annually to avoid the pain of alignment. There is a better way.

Have you ever tried to quantify the actual cost of yada yada annual planning? 💸 Matty Wishnow illuminates some of those hidden costs in this most recent article on The Focus.
bit.ly/3XUb1XZ

AI for Insights? We’ve Been Here Before. Generative AI is a powerful technology for analytics. But, not in the way it is most commonly hyped — automating the discovery of insights.

Is your inbox blowing up with (AI-generated) emails from tech companies promising that their AI-powered platforms will automate the discovery of actionable insights in your data? You can send those emails to the trash, according to @tgwilson.bsky.social: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/ai-for-insig...

Analytics Is Painful (So They Say) Analytics is powerful! But it can also be the source of recurrent pain. We surveyed 100+ professionals to get their take. In a word: ouch.

Is analytics painful? It can be. We asked a bunch of analysts and their business partners to weigh in with more detail, and the results are in: thefocus.factsandfeelings.io/analytics-is...!

Your Budget WILL Get Cut (Everyone’s Is). Turn those lemons into lemonade! Budget cuts are frustrating, but they can be a catalyst for creativity and focus.

Budget cuts aren't fun, but they help us value what remains. The constraint can unlock creativity and energy, if you let it. Turn those lemons into lemonade! bit.ly/4dSxMkc

High-Speed Leadership: “Hypothesis Mindset” to Achieve Performance In high speed performance driving and company leadership, the ability to master capabilities will ensure success. The best path to accelerate achievements is using a "hypothesis mindset." That means t...

(Say No 10 of 10) Read Sam Decker's full post on High-Speed Leadership: “Hypothesis Mindset” to Achieve Performance here!

www.samdecker.com/post/high-sp...

(Say No 9 of 10) We’d love to talk with you more about how you can start in making this pivot. Reach out to
@davidmcb.bsky.social, @tgwilson.bsky.social, or @valkroll.bsky.social to set-up time to talk!

(Say No 8 of 10) Most organizations have no shortage of ideas, but lack the mechanism or ways of working to prioritize the hypotheses that are most likely to deliver business impact. (And we’ll give you a hint, it’s more than just PIE, ICE or potential impact sizing).

(Say No 7 of 10) ...or solving your biggest problems. And when their is a misalignment between the performance and the resources dedicated, you’ve put yourself and your team in a position to quickly take action to rectify.