Episode 103: The Art of the Actionable Insight

About this episode

Brent Dykes joins Dr Genevieve Hayes to discuss how to identify and communicate actionable insights that drive organizational action.

Most data scientists have been in this situation: you spend hours analysing a dataset, return to your stakeholder with your findings, and are met with a polite "that's interesting" - before your work disappears into a drawer, never to be seen again. The problem usually isn't the analysis. It's that interesting observations and genuine insights are not the same thing. In this episode, Brent Dykes joins Dr Genevieve Hayes to share the frameworks behind identifying and communicating insights that actually move organisations to act. In this episode, you'll discover: What makes an insight an insight and why only 5% of findings qualify [03:42] The four dimensions that focus your analysis before you touch the data [11:25] The six criteria for a truly actionable insight [15:06] Why narrative outperforms an executive summary every time [19:14] Guest Bio Brent Dykes is the author of Effective Data Storytelling and the founder of AnalyticsHero. He has consulted with some of the world’s most recognised brands, including Microsoft, Sony, Nike and Amazon, and is a regular contributor to Forbes . Links Connect with Brent on LinkedIn Effective Data Storytelling website Connect with Genevieve on…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Genevieve Hayes

Guest: Brent Dykes

Topics covered

• actionable insights
• data analysis
• data storytelling
• stakeholder communication
• data-driven decision making

Keywords

• data science
• insights
• analysis frameworks
• narrative
• executive summary
• stakeholders
• data-driven

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Microsoft, Sony, Nike, Amazon, Forbes

Books & works: Effective Data Storytelling

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