In the March 2012 edition of Director magazine, Kevin Roberts, CEO of advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi, is quoted as saying, We live in a ’Vuca’ world—a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous but British companies keep having strategy meetings! What the f***? Indeed. And it's not just British companies. Organizations need to stop having strategy … [Read more...]
NoDropouts.org report on CohortTracker™ roll-out
NoDropouts.org just reported on Greater Southern Tier Board of Cooperative Education Services’ roll-out of CohortTracker™. In their article, they note that: Of course, once schools leaders have a better idea of who is most at risk, there is simply no substitute for good, old-fashioned compassion—and good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Indeed. Technology is only ever part of … [Read more...]
CohortTracker™—early warning system for identifying failing students
The Greater Southern Tier Board of Cooperative Education Services (GST BOCES) has released CohortTracker™ to fourteen school districts within its region. CohortTracker™, developed by Decision Mechanics and Prism Decision Systems, is an early warning system for identifying students who may be in danger of failing to graduate. Students' progress is assessed using an algorithm that takes … [Read more...]
When spreadsheets go bad
In the late '90s, I had a colleague who was fond of saying, "When an operations analyst encounters a problem, he opens a spreadsheet. Now he has two problems..." Indeed. If you are responsible for a project that has a spreadsheet as a deliverable, go and suspend it now. Yes, now. Go on. When you return I'll explain why you had to do it. Done? OK, I'll continue. First, let … [Read more...]
Budget Playground—an interactive budget-planning iPad app
Decision Mechanics, in partnership with Prism Decision Systems, recently developed "Budget Playground"—a school district budget planning iPad app. The app was created as part of a program funded by Cornell University's New York State Center for Rural Schools. Budget Playground allows school district planning staff to forecast budgets up to ten years into the future and interactively modify … [Read more...]