BUS610: Business Intelligence and Analytics

This article describes what the human brain is doing when we define the problem (requirements and scope), plan for problem-solving (select datasets and filter or standardize and clean them for relevant information), and engage in the creative thinking process that is analysis. The author differentiates the creative process from the analytical process she terms "insight problem solving", but without creativity, the analyst would not know which methods to apply to the dataset and would have more difficulty expressing their findings in a way that is actionable for the decision-maker. To do this effectively requires a certain amount of empathy to understand what the decision-maker needs and in what format so that they can digest it most thoroughly and see the action steps needed for implementation.

It is interesting to see the problem-solving process laid out in a neurological sense when it is second nature to seasoned analysts. The author describes Tversky and Kahneman's thinking processes that allow analysts to figure out big problems while driving home in light traffic as if on autopilot. One analyst claims to solve most problems by walking away from her computer, riding her bike, or going rollerblading. Sometimes, like figuring out where we left the remote, the important things are fleeting and can only occur to us when we are doing something else. How might you have solved an important thinking problem in an unlikely place or while doing something non-analytical?