Are you a Catalyst? Click on each question to see how a Catalyst would answer.
Question 1: Balancing business and technical acumen
In executive conversations, do you find yourself hiding behind the math, speaking primarily about the “models” and “technology” of analytics and citing technical challenges to business problems?
Question 2: Collaboration
Would your peers say that one of your top three strengths is an ability to collaborate?
Question 3: Keeping pace
Are you setting a rapid pace of analytics adoption to capture a greater portion of the available value ahead of competitors?
Question 4: Attracting top talent
Are you creating an environment that attracts data talent?
Question 5: Building capabilities across the organization
Are you working to increasingly decentralize your analytics function as it matures?
How a Catalyst would respond: No. While I’m well versed in the technical aspects of my work, I speak first and foremost about the business value in executive conversations and drive end-to-end analytics projects to business outcomes.
How a Catalyst would respond: Yes. I’m an active listener with solid emotional intelligence, which allows me to work well with widely divergent stakeholders, forge partnerships, and create a positive culture. I communicate often with my peers and their reports as we work together to drive business value through analytics. And I work to ensure that all team members are recognized for their efforts, including IT, services, and other “back-office” teams that don’t typically get acknowledgment or credit.
How a Catalyst would respond: Yes. I communicate a compelling vision to rally the organization into action. I’m monitoring leading analytics-driven companies, calibrating my organization’s pace to theirs rather than to a legacy pace. I drive shared scorecards between analytics units and business leaders, deliver on clear milestones, and provide weekly progress updates to drive urgency and create accountability. And I empathize with workers whose jobs may be affected by analytics and help them learn new skills and adjust to the change.
How a Catalyst would respond: Yes. I am well versed in analytics roles and career paths. I ensure analytics professionals are sufficiently compensated, using a strong business case for the tangible return on talent investment. And I know the importance of job satisfaction. As an example, I implement the tools and processes necessary to minimize data wrangling, enabling data scientists to focus on what they love most—solving big problems.
How a Catalyst would respond: Yes. I don’t look to “protect” my territory. I have a plan to continue to export talent and capabilities to other parts of the organization. I view decentralization as a goal and sign of success and look for ways to enable access and transparency for everyone, from senior executives to sales to marketing staff.
