Decision Intelligence Digest: September 2022

Hello, and welcome to the newest edition of the Decision Intelligence Digest, your monthly rundown of the best, most interesting, most useful information published about decision intelligence.

It’s September! A time when many around the world are settling back into their academic pursuits. Class is in session, and today’s topic is … data literacy!

It’s an important, and sometimes overlooked, aspect of business that will impact how successful any data and analytics initiative can be within a given organization.

Gartner has put a lot of thought into data literacy in recent years. From an article headlined A Data and Analytics Leader’s Guide to Data Literacy:

As data and analytics strategies become integral to all aspects of digital business, being data-literate — having the ability to understand, share common knowledge of and have meaningful conversations about data — can enable organizations to seamlessly adopt existing and emerging technologies.

So, you can’t be data-driven if you don’t speak the language. And yet, many people tasked with making important business decisions don’t speak the language of data.

In the words of Piyanka Jain, data science expert and author of Behind Every Good Decision: How Anyone Can Use Business Analytics to Turn Data into Profitable Insight, “Data is the new currency, it’s the language of the business. We need to be able to speak that.”

Thankfully, technology can help. In fact, David Menninger of Ventana Research sees data literacy as important only when tied to adoption. Speaking about the general lack of data literacy at large organizations, David says this: “My theory about why this situation exists is that analytics are hard to use. They require skills that many people do not have.” However, technology can close the gap for many roles and responsibilities:

[W]hile training may be appropriate as a goal for some personas, I think we can do better for other personas. Rather than train the workforce to do their work in a different, more “data literate” way, why not enhance analytics and adapt them to the way people work?

That’s a smart observation. In fact, it’s shaped our approach to building the Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform. Pyramid’s VP of Product Marketing, Deepa Sankar, recently published a blog called Redefining Augmented Analytics: How Pyramid Delivers Integrated and AI-Driven Self-Service Experiences. By our definition, “Augmented analytics enables organizations to speed up their journey from data to decisions.”

With the right application of AI and other modern technologies, augmented analytics can bridge the data literacy gap, at least for some people.

What else is worth your time?

• Deepa also recently spoke with DataOrbis about their decision intelligence needs, and what actions the data management solution provider is taking to prepare for the future.
• McKinsey’s Data-driven enterprise of 2025 report notes that, as “[r]apidly accelerating technology advances, the recognized value of data, and increasing data literacy are changing what it means to be “’data driven.’”
• Forbes recently shared 8 Simple Ways To Enhance Your Data Literacy Skills, arguing that, “We’re living through the fourth industrial revolution (or “Industry 4.0”), a revolution that’s defined by wave upon wave of new technologies that combine the physical and digital worlds.” Data literacy is—and will continue to be—more crucial than ever.
• Here’s a phenomenal (and fascinating) discussion with Gary Klein, a celebrated research psychologist who has dedicated his work to understanding decision-making. It’s a great conversation on the nature of insights, cognitive biases, and much more.

As always, thanks for reading our newsletter. Now, scroll on for more recommended reading!

New on the Blog

We are thrilled to welcome some fresh voices to the blog this month. Don’t miss these great articles!

• Guest contributor Dr. Lorien Pratt shares insights on decision intelligence and global challenges. Read article
• Pyramid CMO Jakki Geiger speaks with business analytics expert and professor Gauthier Vasseur from UC Berkeley. Read article

Peer Story: Export Packers

An Ontario-based importer, exporter, and distributor of food commodities, Export Packers has been around for over 80 years. Learn how this innovative organization is becoming more data-driven.

Read Export Packers’ Story

The Look Ahead

No Bad Decisions Roadshow | Event Series
We’re coming to a city near you! Check back often for additional dates.

Pyramid expands UK presence with public sector practice | Article

Thank you for reading the Decision Intelligence Digest. If you would like to learn more about Pyramid Analytics, the Pyramid Platform, or want to hear how others in your industry are changing their approach to enterprise analytics, let’s set up a time to talk.