Christine Haskell, Ph.D.'s Blog, page 4

Part 1: The Perfect Storm: Technology, Economics, and the Birth of Data-Driven Management

In the annals of corporate history, the 1990s stand out as a pivotal decade—a time when the convergence of technological innovation, economic shifts, and evolving management philosophies gave birth to the data-driven organization we know today. This transformative period set the stage for a new era of business practices, one where information became the most valuable currency and data-driven decision-making emerged as the gold standard for corporate leadership.

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Part 1: The Rise of the Data Titans - Welch, Ballmer, and the Metrics Revolution

In the late 20th century, a seismic shift occurred in corporate America. Two leaders, Jack Welch of General Electric (GE) and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, emerged as the vanguards of a new, data-driven approach to management that would reshape the business landscape for decades to come.

Jack Welch: Six Sigma and the Cult of Efficiency

When Jack Welch took the helm at GE in 1981, he inherited a bloated conglomerate struggling to compete in a rapidly changing global economy. Welch's response was to e...

The Evolution of Data Culture in Corporate America: A Journey Through Efficiency, Purpose, and Ethics

In this five-part series, we dive into the transformative journey of data culture in corporate America. From the efficiency-driven '90s to the purpose-oriented 2010s and now into the ethically complex AI era. We’ll trace a path that reveals our data-driven world's promise and perils.

Part 1: The Perfect Storm

We’ll begin in the 1990s when unique economic pressures and technological advancements set the stage for the data revolution. The push for efficiency, embodied by figures like Jack Welch at...

The Data Paradox: From Metrics Mania to Purpose-Driven Ambiguity

In this five-part series, we explore corporate America’s evolving relationship with data, from the metrics-obsessed 1990s to today’s complex landscape of purpose-driven organizations grappling with data accountability.

Part 1: The Rise of the Data Titans

We begin in the 1980s and '90s, examining how leaders like Jack Welch at GE and Steve Ballmer at Microsoft championed data-driven management approaches.

Welch's embrace of Six Sigma at GE wasn't just a quality control method; it became a manifesto ...

The Data Titans and Their Legacy: How Welch and Ballmer Shaped Corporate America's Love Affair with Metrics

In this five-part series, we explore how two titans of industry—Jack Welch of General Electric and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft—ignited a data revolution that swept across corporate America, leaving an indelible mark on how businesses approach metrics, accountability, and culture. Their influence extended far beyond their own companies, setting off a chain reaction that would reshape industries from finance to entertainment, ultimately leading to the complex data landscape we navigate today.

Part 1...

The ROI Paradox: Why Your Data Initiative Might Be Telling the Wrong Story

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to a small group of Women in Data Science Puget Sound volunteers about my book Driving Data Projects. They specifically wanted to talk about the topic of measuring ROI.

In the world of data-driven decision making, we often fall into a trap that I call the “measurement paradox.” It’s a sneaky cognitive bias that leads us to focus on what’s easily measurable, rather than what’s truly important. Let me illustrate with a simple example.

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Paradox of Purpose: How the Quest for Meaning Reshaped Data Culture and Leadership

As we entered the 2010s, corporate America underwent a seismic shift. The relentless pursuit of efficiency that characterized the 1990s and early 2000s gave way to a new paradigm—one that prioritized purpose and profit. While addressing crucial issues of employee burnout and societal expectations, this transformation inadvertently set off a chain of events that would profoundly impact data culture and leadership across organizations.

The Data-Driven Years & the Purpose Revolution

In the late 1990s...

Growth, Stagnation, and Knowing When to Move On: Navigating Career Crossroads

One of the best parts of teaching is getting the side notes from students appreciating a lecture, or sharing an insight they gained, or sharing their enthusiasm with a subject with me. It’s what’s kept me in teaching so long.

In a recent entrepreneurship lecture, a student shared a familiar sentiment: the “energy” from her company had waned over the past 15 years, and she missed the “spark” of the early years. She was worried she might have to leave to find it again. This reflection opened up a b...

The Courage to Learn: Reframing Failure in the Innovation Landscape

The Misunderstood Concept of Failure

In business (and in life), we often misuse the word failure—in fact, we overuse it. Mischaracterizing failure can profoundly impact individual motivation, team dynamics, and organizational culture. As we'll explore, what we often label as failure is actually a crucial part of the learning and evolution process.

The Disservice of Mislabeling

We do ourselves a horrible disservice by labeling everything that isn’t a distinct “win” a “failure.” Sometimes, we have fa...

The Deceptive Complexity of Asking "Why" (Part 2/2)

The Seeming Simplicity of "Why"

At first glance, asking “why” seems like the simplest thing in the world. It's often one of the first words children learn; we associate it with curiosity and learning. In professional settings, we're often encouraged to “ask why” to get to the root of problems or to uncover deeper insights. But as with many seemingly simple concepts, the act of asking “why” effectively is far more complex than it appears.

unraveling Two popular Methods

Let's explore two popular meth...