I recently embarked on a personal journey to shed some of the extra pounds that I’ve picked up over the past 20 years. After successfully losing 35 pounds in 90 days, I’ve chosen to share my experience because so many people have asked for the secret sauce. And given the countless hours I’ve spent on the treadmill (hint), I’ve had a bit of extra time to think. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I had done to successfully get in shape may help others improve their health and oddly enough their analytics.
About 1 year ago, I founded ACR Analytics after serving as a Solutions Engineer for WebTrends, a position I held for nearly 10 years. As I went out on my own I was hopeful that I could use this change in my work life to also make a change in my personal life. I was quickly approaching my 39th birthday and realized that getting back in shape was only going to get more difficult with each day that passed. And after another 180 of them had passed, I was finally inspired to take some action.
I had just returned from an annual Thanksgiving trip to California and attended one last turkey dinner with friends. Fortunately, the first thing we did when we arrived was had our picture taken. It's the picture you see above. I studied it carefully and came to the conclusion that now was the time, although I really had no idea what that meant or how I would go about doing it.
When it comes to analytics, there are some organizations that are in great shape! They have an analytics solution in place, have very specific goals, and always know how they are measuring up against those goals. They are engaged in a continuous cycle of action which could be anything from simple changes on their website, to remarketing through email, to A/B testing, to an investment in Behavioral Targeting or Site Optimization.
There are also many organizations that are a little out of shape when it comes to analytics. They usually fit into one of the following groups:
- No analytics solution in place.
- Analytics Solution in place, poorly implemented.
- Analytics Solution in place, properly implemented.
If you think you need to get in shape, the good news here is that it doesn’t really matter which category you fall into. It’s not the solution that you have in place or even how well it’s implemented that will determine your level of fitness. Analytics is like your scale. You need to have something in place so you know how much you weigh. But, the scale alone will not help get you shape. Until you take some action, don’t expect to see any big changes when you weigh in.
A Little Inspiration Doesn’t Hurt
The picture put me over the edge, but the inspiration for change had been brewing for some time. Inspiration is all around you. It’s really not hard to find. You may just need to take a moment, as I did, to appreciate it.
I was inspired by the success of others. I had come to look forward to Tuesday nights on NBC, where I would grab a bowl of ice cream and watch the Biggest Loser. It is truly amazing how much weight some of the contestants lose and how consistently they are successful, at least during the show. Keeping in mind the unrealistic situation that these contestants are subjected to, I was struck by the fact that losing weight is really nothing more than a numbers game, very much like analytics. Yes, there are many factors that come into play such as competitive spirit, motivation, health factors, and emotional struggles. And yes, they all make for good TV, but at the end of the day, it’s “calories in” and “calories out”, a very simple formula that allows these contestants to consistently lose amazing amounts of weight in such a short amount of time. Calories are the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that has helped to unravel the mystery of weight loss for me. I realize this may be completely obvious to many of you, it wasn’t for me. Another parallel when it comes to analytics. When I work with customers, I’ll insist that they set their list of requirements aside for a moment and just tell me the top 3 drivers of their business. If the answer requires much thought, it’s usually a sign that we need to do some work around identifying the proper KPI’s to measure.
I was inspired by friends. During the turkey dinner, I got into a conversation with my brother-in-law Sean (who had just lost 10 pounds) and friend Ken (who always looks slim) about a “short term cleansing diet” that had worked for them. I’ve never been crazy about “diets”, but figured it couldn’t really hurt to try. It was only for 7 days and I was hopeful I might even learn something from it. Both of them encouraged me to give it a shot.
I’d also watch nearly every morning as my 70+ year old neighbors drove past my office on their way to the YMCA to work out. They started their regiment about 12 months ago and I now look forward to seeing them several times a week in the gym.
I was inspired by family. My greatest source of inspiration has come from that which is most important to me, my health and my family. Again, I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by very healthy, caring, and fun loving family and I’d like to be around to spend my days with them. Of course, there are no guarantees, but being a numbers guy, I figured I’d like to do what I can to increase my chances. Every time I start to succumb to my old ways, family quickly enters my mind and makes it easy to reverse course. It’s a no brainer.
Where will your inspiration come from? In my experience, organizations that are in shape when it comes to analytics have a passionate force leading their efforts. They are often led by an individual who has a strong technical background and has an excellent handle on the direction and goals of the organization. But, most importantly, they are driven with a level of passion for improving results each and every day. It’s not an easy resource to find!
During my journey, I’ve come to realize that passion is fueled by inspiration. It’s something that can easily dissipate if not properly nurtured. I now pay much closer attention to the inspiration that is all around me. In fact, I’m looking forward to attending the WebTrends Engage User Conference next week. It’s a great opportunity to learn first hand about the success of others. For those attending, there will be no shortage of inspiration!
I was ready for action! So, the analyst in me took over and I came up with the beginnings of a dashboard – a simple chart to measure my progress.
It was the first in a series of actions that have led to success for me and that I’ll continue to share in a series of posts over the next few months.
