
Show Notes
In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, sits down with Sebastian Wernicke, author of “Data Inspired: Building an Organizational Culture of Inquiry for Lasting Transformation” and expert in data science, machine learning and AI.
0:00 Introduction & Welcome 1:08 Sebastian's Journey into Data 2:54 The Frustration That Inspired the Book 5:09 Data: Keeping Organizations the Same? 6:26 The Slow Elevator Story 8:38 Purpose First, Data Second 9:25 Understanding the Real Problem 12:12 Building a Culture of Inquiry 15:33 Data Driven or Data Frustrated 18:23 Data as Compression of Reality 19:54 Three Myths About Data 26:09 Complex Decisions: Bezos on Anecdotes vs. Data 28:41 Three Kinds of Indicators 30:34 Experimentation & Leading Indicators 31:49 Economics Consulting in Practice 37:24 Strategy as Problem-Solving 39:42 AI Strategy & Token Maxing 42:29 Measuring What Can't Be Measured 46:18 The Data Inspired Manifesto 48:54 Book Reception Across Fields 52:27 Bad Metrics & Short-Termism 55:18 Creating Space for Thinking 57:15 Closing Thoughts
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