Author: MICHAEL.LEE.AUTHOR

A surprising data analytics strategy is to harness “shadow data”—untracked or underutilized datasets like internal email threads, calendar patterns, or app error logs. By applying natural language processing or pattern analysis to these sources, analysts can uncover unexpected trends, such as correlating meeting frequency with project delays or error spikes with user churn. This approach… Read more

A surprising way to optimize processes is through “process shadowing,” where a neutral observer follows a process end-to-end, documenting every step, delay, and workaround without interfering. Unlike surveys or interviews, this reveals unspoken inefficiencies—like redundant approvals or manual data entry—that employees might not report because they’ve normalized them. For example, shadowing might uncover that a… Read more

A bold process management tactic is “chaos testing,” deliberately introducing controlled disruptions—like simulating a system outage or removing a key resource—to test process robustness. Unlike standard audits, this uncovers surprising weak points, such as over-reliance on a single employee or a brittle software integration. For example, chaos testing might reveal that a manual workaround slows… Read more