There are four personas presented in the Mind Map article that describe how different personalities approach decision-making.

I need help with the following discussion question taken from the attached mind map article. Assignment: There are four personas presented in the Mind Map article that describe how different personalities approach decision-making.

Apply this to the decision-making process in the current Harvard simulation:

1) Describe how each personality would approach the weekly (yearly) decision process based on their mind-map personality and,

2) Based on that describe your own process – which decision personality type are you?

3) As a data analyst, how would you work with each personality to make better, data-driven decisions?

Requirements: Short Paragraphs

This report introduces the methodology of the Analytical Mind Map and reviews early findings and emerging BI personalities from the pool of over 650 survey respondents. INTRODUCING THE ANALYTICAL MIND MAP: THE BI PERSONALITY TEST April, 2014  Peter Krensky, Research Analyst, Analytics & Business Intelligence  Michael Lock, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Analytics & Business Intelligence Report Highlights Aberdeen divided the factors that shape the decision environment into two categories: practical and emotional. Each persona demonstrates advantages and disadvantages and maps well to certain job roles. Evangelists have 20% more users than All Others engaged with their BI solution on at least a weekly basis. Gunslingers are 35% more likely to cite the accelerating pace of business as a top pressure. p2 p4 p5 p6

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 2 The Mind Map Who are you (analytically speaking)? That is the question Aberdeen Group asked its Business Intelligence (BI) community to kick off 2014. For the first time in its history, Aberdeen sought to discover not just how BI users employ analytical tools, but also how their individual traits, tendencies and idiosyncrasies shape their decision environment. Methodology Aberdeen divided the factors that shape the decision environment into two categories: practical and emotional. To understand how emotional characteristics impact decision making, Aberdeen asked survey takers to rate themselves or their environments on eleven different spectrums (Table 1). Table 1: Emotional and Environmental Decision Spectrums Spectrum End Point Spectrum End Point Gut-driven, experience-based decision maker by nature Data-driven, evidence-based decision maker by nature Job role requires experience-based decisions Job role requires evidence-based decisions Consumer of analysis Creator of analysis Collaborative decision maker Lone wolf Constantly learning and trying to acquire new skills Confident in current skill set Environment / work culture is open to change and controversial analysis Environment / work culture is conservative Risk taker Risk averse Trusting of others’ analysis and insights Always run the numbers independently Job role requires decisions that are more tactical Job role requires decisions that more strategic For the first time in its history, Aberdeen sought to discover not just how BI users employ analytical tools, but also how their individual traits, tendencies, and idiosyncrasies shape their decision environment.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 3 Respondents were able to place themselves at either extreme of the spectrum or give a more nuanced response somewhere in the middle. When applicable, the Mind Map distinguishes between inherent emotional traits and qualities dictated by certain job roles, such as gut-driven decision making or strategic thinking. Aberdeen also asked Mind Map respondents about the practical traits that shape them as decision makers (Table 2). The practical traits surveyed consisted of seniority, experience in current industry, education, and technical expertise. Table 2: Practical Traits Question What is your position within the organization? How long have you worked in your current field? What is the highest level of education you have completed? Do you hold any technical degrees (i.e. IT, engineering, computer science, data science)? Emerging Personas From all the varied emotional and practical profiles documented by the Mind Map, groupings of common traits emerged (Table 3). These commonalities provided an opportunity to highlight decision-making tendencies in a way that brings color and life to the way people think and act. Individuals who rely on their gut instincts and experience to make fast-paced decisions are the Gunslingers. Users who preach the value of analytics across the organization and have a personality and work environment that is open to change are the Evangelists. Data-driven sleuths who seek out evidence and create analysis are the Detectives. And finally, individuals with significant experience in their field and a high level of technical education are the Professors.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 4 Table 3: Mind Map Personas Persona Traits Gunslingers Gut-driven decision makers, consumers of analysis, risk takers Evangelists Collaborators, eager to learn new tricks, work environment open to change and controversial analysis Detectives Data-driven decision makers, creators of analysis Professors Five years or more in their field, graduate degree in a technical discipline Each persona demonstrates advantages and disadvantages and maps well to certain job roles and departments within the organization. For more information on Mind Map personas, please visit Aberdeen’s research library. So What? Introspection and self-awareness are all well and good, but why does the Mind Map matter? Comparison of each analytical persona to the remainder of the respondent pool offer insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of decision makers. The data also reveals areas where certain personas are delivering quantifiable benefits to their organizations.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 5 The Evangelists provide an example of the value of naturally collaborative individuals. The proselytizing efforts of Evangelists produce a growing BI user base that is more independent and engaged than users of less analytically devout organizations (Figure 1). Evangelists reported that their organizations deliver BI access to 13% more employees who have demonstrated a need or desire for analytical functionality. By collaborating across lines of business and promoting the acquisition of new skills, Evangelists successfully bring non-users into the fold. Evangelists also preach at the executive level to convert key decision makers and build support for such initiatives. Business environments open to change and fresh perspectives are inclined to reward these efforts and invest in growing their BI user base. Figure 1: Engaged and Independent Users Evangelists have 47% of users in their respective organizations engaging analytics in a self-service capacity, giving them 21% more self-sufficient users than All Others. It is in the Evangelists’ nature to advocate progressive change, and they are generally part of organizations that are open to new ideas. Self-service BI

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 6 breaks away from the traditional IT-intensive approach to analytics. Aberdeen’s report, The BI User Interface Best-in-Class: Self-Service, Ease-of-Use, and Data Access, revealed significant improvements in the speed of decision making for self-service BI users. Finally, Evangelists have 20% more users than All Others engaged with their BI solution on a weekly or more frequent basis. This metric shows how the grassroots efforts of the Evangelists pay off. Users are buying into a data-driven approach to decision making and are regularly engaging analytics to derive as many insights as possible. The Mind Map can also demonstrate how the business perspectives of different decision makers impact analytical initiatives. For example, over a quarter of Gunslingers cited the accelerating pace of business as a top pressure (Figure 2). This makes them 35% more likely than All Others to be primarily concerned with finding ways to make faster decisions. Presently, a Gunslinger’s best option when pressed by the pace of business is to rely on their instincts. As that pace quickens over time, Gunslingers are forced to make more decisions with less time for deliberation. They will then rely even more on their gut-driven nature. In the same vein, Gunslingers are 33% more likely to be concerned that managers are being forced to make decisions in increasingly compressed amounts of time. Gunslingers embody a “shoot first, ask questions later” philosophy. A gut call is faster than even a cursory glance at a report or chart.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 7 Figure 2: Pressures on the Decision Making Process Gunslingers are significantly less vexed than All Others by issues concerning data access and volume. Gunslingers are 50% less likely than All Others to be concerned that too much data is inaccessible or under-utilized for business analysis. They do not feel that they need data to reinforce most of their decisions. Also, if they encounter any difficulty accessing data when looking for statistical backing, they have no problem abandoning the effort and falling back on their experience. For Gunslingers, being quick on the draw is more important than lining up the perfect shot by incorporating all relevant data into a decision. Key Takeaways The Analytical Mind Map is a new way of looking at the BI end user community to understand unique decision environments.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 8 Individuals can use the Mind Map to better understand who they are and what factors define them as analytical thinkers. Organizations can gain a new perspective on the makeup of their workforce and find the right personas to fit their needs. Early findings from the Mind Map demonstrate the value of better understanding analytical tendencies and personas:  The decision environment matters. Every decision maker is different. There are emotional, environmental, and practical factors that shape the decision environment and have an impact on every choice. Mind Map personas shed light on how different types of thinkers approach tough choices and impact the analytical culture of their respective organizations.  Different jobs call for different personas. Certain personalities are naturally poised for success when put to work in the right place. Quick-drawing Gunslingers are well-suited for leadership positions that require fast, intelligent decisions. An IT executive role may call for the experience and technical expertise of a Professor. Organizations looking for the right fit for a specific role should consider the emotional and practical traits that best suit the position.  Every persona has strengths and weaknesses. Nobody’s perfect and all personas present traits to emulate and areas that need some work. Gunslingers act quickly and excel in fast-paced roles, but can fail to find pertinent data. Detectives are self-driven and methodical, but they often fail to collaborate with their colleagues. This is not to say that decision makers should fundamentally change who they are, just that they should seek out opportunities for improvement.

www.aberdeen.com Introducing the Analytical Mind Map: The BI Personality Test 9 So we’ll ask again, who are you? For more information on this or other research topics, please visit www.aberdeen.com. Related Research Analytical Gunslingers: The Quick and the Dead; April 2014 Analytical Evangelists: Preaching the Gospel of Data-Driven Insight; April 2014 Analytical Detectives: Solving Data Mysteries; April 2014 Analytical Professors: Leverage of the Nerds; April 2014 Author: Peter Krensky, Research Analyst, Analytics & Business Intelligence ([email protected]) Author: Michael Lock, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Analytics & Business Intelligence ([email protected]) About Aberdeen Group Aberdeen Group conducts research focused on helping business leaders across sixteen different B2B technology disciplines improve their performance. Our process is simple – we conduct thousands of surveys every year to identify top performing organizations and uncover what makes them different. We share these insights back with the market in the form of in-depth research reports and content assets to help our readers build business plans capable of driving better results with the right set of tools to help them get there. This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group’s methodologies provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group, Inc.

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