We've all felt the pull: find a statistic, cite it, move on. But reading the summary isn't reading the report. McKinsey's AI research offers a case study in what happens when we skip that step, and why the discipline to actually read, think, and accurately represent sources is what separates analysis from performance.

If analytics teams are going to have a meaningful chance at becoming a better version of themselves, they should reject the idea of resolutions, tactics, and action lists and instead focus on understanding the underlying causes of their challenges.

Take a few minutes to think about the impact you can have within your company. It doesn't have to be some massive, get mentioned in next quarter's earning call, type of thing. Sometimes the most profound changes we make come from those small acts that create endless ripples 🌊

And it is in maintaining of the things that we buy in which the most value is generated. If we aren’t prioritizing routine maintenance, we are not thinking sustainably and we are not honoring our craft.

5 years ago, after seeing how much time was being spent on RFPs and obvious how little return was being generated, i instituted a "NO RFPs" policy at 33 Sticks. As mentioned, i've allowed us to break this rule a few times because the RFP was being run by an industry friend or someone we worked with in the past - but the experience was still the same though, a bit shady and highly negative, regardless if the RFP was from a friend or a complete stranger.

Let's lift each other up. Let's help each other out if we can.

A simple act of caring creates an endless ripple.