Setting Goals for Others

Your job as the analytics expert is to consult, not to control. If people feel forced to do things, even though you can mathematically prove they might be wildly successful, they may become resentful towards participating.

When you show people analytics for the first time, your goal should not be to control the situation, but to get them to control the situation. This leads to another principle:

If you strike gold, shut up.

A former boss and mentor said those words to me in describing what happens when you want someone else to take charge. As they start to agree with you (i.e. when you “strike gold”), the wrong thing to do is to start directing right away. Let them talk and figure it out. Steer them towards the right answer, but you don’t have to be the one to point it out. If you’ve done things right, you will have an answer to their next question.

Keep in mind that the audience is likely seeing the metric for the first...