When discussing the value we offer to clients, the focus is often on technical aspects---experience, understanding the psychology, skill with tools, processes, etc. However, it occurs to me that often much of the value we bring to the table is energy and a fresh set of eyes. In many circumstances decision-makers have decision fatigue. It might be due to the number of decisions they have to make, … [Read more...]
Decision Machines
A recent article on the Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative blog argues that we need to move beyond prediction to create "decision machines". It is decisions, not predictions, that have consequences. I couldn't agree more. However, I'm not sure that the current focus on statistical machine learning is going to lead us there. … [Read more...]
Kids learn to make decisions by making decisions
Alfie Kohn is a critic of education's fixation (in some countries) on grades and test scores. In a 2010 article entitled "How to Create Nonreaders" he argued When parents ask, "What did you do in school today?", kids often respond, "Nothing." Howard Gardner pointed out that they're probably right, because "typically school is done to students." This sort of enforced passivity is particularly … [Read more...]