A presentation given by Matt Mayfield to MorningStar, Oct 2011

1. Data > Insight
A design thinking approach to understanding
data and what to do with it

2. Matt Mayfield
IIT Institute of Design
Graduate program in Design Research and Planning
Emphasis on methods to improve design thinking
Motorola Mobility (now a part of Google)
Mobile Devices and Services management
Emphasis on understanding the impact of mobility on daily life
Doblin Group (now a part of Monitor)
Innovation Strategy consulting
Emphasis on user-centered techniques for business innovation
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

3. Today
“Executives want better ways to communicate
complex insights so they can quickly absorb the
meaning of the data and take action.”
Big Data, Analytics and the Path From Insights to Value.
MIT Sloan Management review, winter 2011.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

4. Drowning
in Data

7. Portable People Meter Nucleus Energy Manager

8. Aggregation to disaggregation
‘bazillion’-bytes
petabytes
terabytes
bytes
individual activity broad aggregation
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

9. Aggregation to disaggregation
‘bazillion’-bytes
Trends
petabytes Operations
Processes
terabytes Devices
Sensors
bytes
individual activity broad aggregation
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

10. Aggregation to disaggregation
‘bazillion’-bytes
Public
Trends
petabytes Organizational
Operations
Personal Processes
terabytes Devices
Sensors
bytes
individual activity broad aggregation
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

12. Data is dumb, we want insight
liposuction impacts property values? Google Trends, Aug 2011
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

13. Visualization will save us?
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011 Aaron Koblin

14. Interpretation
Affected by Bias

15. [bias] Anchoring
We are terribly bad at
revisiting our initial
assessment of a situation.
The initial framing of the
problem is hard to shake.
999-99-9999
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

16. [bias] Emotional tagging
We attach the emotions
and feelings associated with
remembered experiences
to the new situation. This
helps us decide if we should
deal with the situation or
not, and if so, what sorts of
things we might do.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

17. [bias] Attribution
We tend to take credit for
positive outcomes but
attribute negative outcomes
to external factors. This
inclination is exaggerated by
our tendency to misperceive
the causes of events.
Politician
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

18. [bias] Complexity
“It is very difficult, if not
impossible, for an individual
decision maker to see an entire
complex system.”
G. Sargut and R. Gunther “Learning to Live With
Complexity” The Harvard Business Review,
September 2001.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

19. [bias] Limited exposure
As our tools for finding
information try and predict what
we want, they begin to favor
what we “like”. This is in conflict
with our expectation that search
results are objective and
independent of our interests.
http://www.ted.com/talks/
eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

20. Interpretation is
Social

21. [social] Storytelling to understand
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

22. [social] Socializing improves insight
The process of transferring
knowledge requires both
socialization (person to
person) and externalization
(person to group).
Ikujiro Nonaka, Noboru Konno, The concept
of "Ba’: Building foundation for Knowledge
Creation. California Management Review
Vol 40, No.3 Spring 1998.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

23. [social] Groupthink
Structural faults:
• insulation of the group
• lack of impartial leadership
• lack of norms requiring
methodological procedures
• homogeneity of members' social
backgrounds and ideology
Situational context:
• highly stressful external threats
• recent failures
• excessive difficulties on the
decision-making task Kelly Blair, 2010, Wired Magazine
• moral dilemmas
Irving Janis, Victims of Groupthink, 1972
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

24. [social] Gathering people is not enough
Requires different workspaces and tools for different
collaboration stages.
Cheskin/Herman Miller Study, “Collaboration in Practice.” 2001.
Requires an organization and reward system that promote
team accomplishment rather than individualistic action.
Anne Donnellon, Team Talk, Harvard Business School Press, 1996
“Shared leadership” in complement with “vertical leadership.”
Craig L. Pearce, The Future of Leadership: Combining Vertical and Shared Leadership
to Transform Knowledge Work.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

25. What can be done?

26. Increase diversity of thought
More perspectives and
views are better
Temperatures Heat Index Watches/Warnings
Deviant roles actually
can help...
Radar Radar/satellite Satellite
Jet Stream RPM Forecast Visibility
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011 Wind speeds Dew Point Feels Like Temps

27. Make room for reflection
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

28. Seek out plausible alternatives
“The objective is not to get a more
accurate picture of the world around
us but to influence decision making
inside the mind of the decision
maker. The objective of good
scenarios is better decisions not
better predictions.”
Peter Schwartz, Co-Founder of Global Business Network,
The Business, 22/23 September 2002
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

29. Support collaboration
“[Collaboration is] the process of
creation: two or more individuals
with complementary skills interacting
to create a shared understanding that
none had previously possessed or
could have come to on their own.”
Michael Schrage, “No More Teams! Mastering the
Dynamics of Creative Collaboration.” Doubleday, New
York, 1995.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

30. Use tools and methods
In an increasingly complex world, even
routine tasks have become so
complicated that mistakes are frequent.
Written guides that prevent them from
forgetting key steps in any complex
procedure.
Checklists help decentralize power: they
foster communication and teamwork
instead of relying on individual prowess.
The Checklists Manifesto: How to Get Things Right,
Atul Gawande.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

31. Interpretation in
Practice
Data - Tools - Environments

34. Steelcase Leadership Community
“We are better leaders because
of this space.”
James Hacket, CEO, Steelcase Inc.
100 sq. ft. area, created in 1995 that
gathers the top 25 Steelcase executives.
Lots of informal meeting space, a large
central workspace with a “dashboard,”
shared private spaces on demand.
Results: increased communication
among leadership team, made top
executive faster in key processes and
in implementing changes.
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011

37. Data > Insight
Insight is interpreted
Interpretation is affected by bias
Interpretation is socially improved
Tools and environments can help
Matt Mayfield - Oct 2011