Jain - Behind Every Good Decision

Advance Praise for
Behind Every Good Decision

A solid analytical foundation is the basis for numerous emerging trends, and it is fundamental for any company to perform at its peak. Behind Every Good Decision will gently bring the neophyte into the analytical fold, show managers how to work with their analysts to get the most out of them, and create a framework that can make any business understand what drives its success and failures. A necessary read for any business leader, present or future.

Brian Whalen, CFO, GiveCorps

Thought provoking. Relevant. A practitioners handbook. This book fills the gap between theory and practice of analytics with smart frameworks and solutions. Analytics experts and business managers often talk different languages. Then there is the added complexity of ever-increasing volumes of data and changing business models. This book provides good recipes and great insights to overcome this. Highly recommended for anyone who is looking to drive decisions with data.

Shekar Nalle Pilli Venkateswara (NV), Sr. Director,
Human Capital Analytics at Marriott International

As my grandfather used to say, If you dont have time to do it right the first time, how will you find time to do it twice? Following the process in this book will get you to the right question, the right model to analyze the data, and lead you to the right insights and recommendationsthe first time. Behind Every Good Decision is a great book for business leaders, scientists, and nonanalytical professionals trying to solve everyday problems from deciding where to look for criminals, to finding out why sales are dropping off in a certain area, to deciding what car to buy. The many great examples and stories make it easy to understand. The chapter on common pitfalls holds up a mirror when skipping steps to cut corners or save time. I highly recommend this book for everyone in a business environment.

John C. Cummings, Managing Director,
Applied Global Services

A well-researched, thorough, and incredibly insightful book with great real-life examples. Enormously helpful to newbies and seasoned analytics professionals alike.

Sumit C. Kumar, Director, Global Marketing,
Customer & Marketing Analytics Gap, Inc.

Behind Every Good Decision provides a necessary and refreshing view of analytics and insight generation. Piyanka and Puneet have done a remarkable job putting the process of analytics into perspective. The book delivers on its promise to guide readers how to apply business analytics and methodology to provide actionable insights, without too much focusing on data and technology. It is the right blend of people, process, technology, and strategy. Using examples, they tell stories of successes, and those of failures, to learn from organizations that have mastered business analytics as well as those that have fallen victim to gut-based decision making.

BADIR is simple, easy to understand, and can be implemented in any organization. It delivers on the promise that analytics neednt rely on a technology or tool, and can be applied to all analyses using intuition and the right data. Behind Every Good Decision is a must-read for anyone involved in decision making, data analysis, and supporting their organization in getting to the next level.

Mike Lempner, Practice Executive,
Business Intelligence and Big Data at Infinitive

I have not come across any other page-turner in analytics. Concepts, terminology, and methodologies that even confound experts are translated into a very easy-to-grasp and interesting read. I highly recommend this to not just leaders, analysts, and consultants, but also to anyone who wants to improve operations in almost any field.

Mayank Jain, VP (Senior Business Leader),
Workforce Planning, Visa

Behind Every Good Decision is a must-read for business and technology professionals aiming to create a data-driven culture at work.

Jo Maitland, Research Director, GigaOM

This book does an outstanding job of (a) re-emphasizing the necessity to analyze the ever-increasing amount of data created by the enterprise to remain competitive in the digital economy, (b) taking a targeted approach in its delivery of content to different audiences (analysts, managers, leaders), (c) dispelling the Ivory Tower aspects of data analyses, providing clear guidance on the whens and whys of using a relatively simple set of actionable approaches that result in quick wins, and (d) underscoring the importance of the soft skills required to incorporate analytics into decision making.

Christiaan Berge, Vice President
at RoundPoint Financial Group

Behind Every Good Decision is a much-needed desktop guide to problem solving. Summarizing all that any analytics professional needs to go from insights to strategy, it is for all levels of management. The BADIR framework gets us from a hypothesis to actionable results that lead to a positive change.

This book gives a solid overview of simple analysis techniques and complex predictive analytics in a single place with great examples, something that has not been done before. A must-have guide for all those who work in analytics, and for those who want to start learning it.

Mihir Korke, VP, Swift Capital

Behind Every Good Decision is a very engrossing and interesting read. As the digital age generates thousands of terabytes of data every day, driving insights from data results in a huge competitive advantage. As a business leader, I have seen many data analysts who are great at number-crunching but who fail in grasping the right business context. This book is a must-read for all budding analysts to understand the potential of their roles in driving the success of their organizations, and keeping it smart and simple. Analytics is still in its development stages as a strategic business lever. Behind Every Good Decision is also great for business leaders to understand how to effectively leverage analytics to quickly generate insights into business problems. Kudos to Piyanka and Puneet.

Anshul Mohan, Head of Sales for North America
Energy, Communications & Services at Infosys BPO

Behind Every Good Decision is a must-read for both newly minted college graduates wanting to peek into the magical world of business analytics, and business veterans who want to increase the effectiveness of their organizations by further leveraging the power of analytics. In an age where all good decisions are increasingly driven by data and analytics, Piyanka and Puneet show how successful companies in many different fields are ushering a new way of doing business.

Kemal Karakaya, Manager at PwC Advisory

Behind Every Good Decision is a simple yet application-oriented guide to data analyticsessential for a better interpretation of the opportunities at hand and the icebergs that lie ahead. I highly recommend reading it.

Abhishek Darbari, Senior Vice President,
Group Risk Management, UniCredit Spa