While researching big data innovation at Walmart, via its @WalmartLabs start-up, I stumbled upon Andreas Weigend's 8 Rules for Big Data.
Weigend, formerly Chief Scientist at Amazon.com, is now a consultant, educator, speaker and leading proponent of the social data revolution:
"Billions of people are now creating and sharing massive amounts of data with one another (C2C), with businesses (C2B), and even with the world (C2W). Disappearing barriers to producing information and interacting with other people have started the Social Data Revolution.
Historically, the technology to transport energy led to the industrial revolution and changed the way we produced things. Then, the technology to transport bits led to the information revolution and changed the way we produced knowledge. Now, the ease of data creation and global sharing has led to the social data revolution, changing the way we view ourselves, interact with each other, and make decisions.
... While the amount of data created by each person doubles every 1.5 years, the amount of attention doesn't. Companies and individuals thus compete more than ever for the ultimately scarce resource: the attention of their audience.
…Successful companies start by defining the relevant problems, create a data strategy, and provide a platform where customers give and get attention."
As a backdrop to his talk on customer-centricity at @WalmartLabs, Weigend shared his 8 Rules for Big Data:
- Start with the problem, not the data
- Share data to get data - don't try to trick customers to giving data
- Align interests of all parties [customer/citizen, company/organization]
- Make it trivially easy for people to contribute, connect and collaborate
- Base the equation of your business on customer centric metrics
- Decompose a business into its "atoms" [loosely coupled parts, which upon inspection can be recomposed to achieve better outcomes]
- Let computers do what computers are good at. Let people do what people are good at.
- Don't blame technology for problems where you [institutions and society] stand in your own the way.
In walking through the 8 rules, Weigend emphasized the human aspect of big data, from data sharing (intentional or not), to data analysis (people vs. computers) to value generation (customer insight and customer benefit).
At the close of the video excerpt, Weigend shared that big data success requires shifting focus along this continuum: dataset to toolset to skill set to mindset.
I found Weigend's 8 Rules to be spot-on. If your organization's Big Data conversations center on the processing of big data, you are missing the point. Center on the customer. What can you learn from your customers? What will it take to win their attention? How can these insights be converted to positive customer experience and sustainable revenue?
If you find the 8 Rules intriguing, check out Weigend's Social Data Revolution channel on Youtube.
