Let us start the new year thinking about how motivation works. What encourages us to action? How can knowledge help us with motivation for the new year’s resolutions? Simple Views Of Motivation Dan Ariely has a new book on this topic. And to motivate you to read it I’ll say it is a very short book. Ariely…
Category: Management Theory
Showing A Problem Does Not Equal Demonstrating A Worsening Problem
Cathy O’Neil has a great book on big data, Weapons of Math Destruction, but one with a fundamental flaw. The flawed claim is made in the book’s subtitle and permeates throughout the book. The subtitle is: “How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy”. I could find no significant evidence of big data increasing inequality in the book. She shows…
Is Math Racist?
Cathy O’Neil’s book – Weapons of Math Destruction – is an entertaining and informative read. She has done a great job of highlighting the challenges with math models. (I have one massive problem with the book but I’ll detail that next time, see here). First I’ll address the question on everyone’s mind: Is Math Racist? Math Models…
How Long Will We Be Unhappy?
A fascinating line of research tackles the problem of affective forecasting. Such forecasting involves questions such as: How Long Will We Be Unhappy? Affective Forecasting This area of research studies our predictions of how we will feel when events happen. We typically aren’t very good at affective forecasting. .. expectations are often important and often wrong. They are important…
The Flat Maximum And Data Science
Steven Finlay has a useful book on Data Science, (Predictive Analytics, Data Mining and Big Data). He has lots of helpful practical advice in an easy to access form. He highlights the idea of the flat maximum. The Flat Maximum This is a general recommendation to read the book. I will also highlight a point Finlay makes….
Behavioural Economics And Policy In Canada
One of the most interesting things about behavioural economics is that it is quite practical. The findings can apply in the public sphere. Such application can often be very direct. Furthermore, many of the ideas generated in behavioural economics are simple tweaks. Tweaks can be very cheap to implement. This, therefore, can make the ideas popular…
Data Without Small T Theory
Standard Deviations Gary Smith’s impressive Standard Deviations book concerns an important point. Statistically inclined people often seem to miss that theory small t matters. Smith is keen to note that data isn’t enough on its own. “Data without theory… is treacherous” (Smith, 2014, page 233). Smith describes a case of a cholera outbreak. This outbreak…
Simpson’s Paradox: Data can be very confusing
One of the strangest things in statistics is Simpson’s paradox. The paradox happens when two sets of data each show the same result. Yet, when you combine the data into a single data set the combined table gives you a different result. Data Can Be Confusing Smith explains this using a click data example. In the data, he shows when you look at…
Nudging: Calm Down It Really Is Not The End Of Freedom
Mark D. White has written an ominously titled book “The Manipulation of Choice: Ethics and Libertarian Paternalism”. He really doesn’t like the sort of Nudging proposed by Thaler and Sunstein in their book, Nudge. I think that he needs to chill out. He gets excited about minor philosophical issues while ignoring big social issues. Nudges…
The Three Stages of Business Analytics
Thomas Davenport is one of the best know voices in the field of business analytics. He has a book with Jinho Kim which discusses how individual business people can best manage their work in a world where analytics are a key part of many business strategies. The aim of the book is to enable managers,…
