Tim Wood Powell     The value of knowledge

Confused? Overwhelmed?? Can’t see what’s coming next??? Welcome to the human race! None of us can — try as we might. Here are some tips about how to approach this crucial challenge. Scenarios versus forecasts Having made my living for over a decade as a quantitative forecaster, I can tell you that forecasting in times […]

I recently joined The Conference Board’s (TCB) Marketing and Communications Center as a Senior Fellow. I’ve been able to meet many interesting people, to create and execute my first research study, and to get involved in some of their programming. One of the fun things we’re asked to do is provide a list of predictions […]

I have a nightmarish pet scenario that as we as a society gain non-stop access to ever-increasing data, there is a risk that we actually get progressively dumber — as we lose the ability to process and analysis that data sufficiently. My idea got a workout this week during election night when the polling industry, […]

I pay close attention to feedback I receive on the KVC and other analytic frameworks we are developing.  Many times I make revisions based on this feedback — that’s why the KVC Handbook is now on its fourth major edition. One of the things I’ve heard is that the KVC model is too idealistic.  Even […]

I used our recent office relocation to review some files I had not visited in a while. Though an arduous undertaking, it provided some surprising rewards. Among other things, I came across one of my first major projects, done with the great firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell — which soon after became KPMG. Out client […]

We recently had a discussion at Columbia’s Information and Knowledge Strategy program about consolidating, or at least coordinating, the various analytic frameworks that many of the faculty use in their work and teaching. The consensus seemed to revolve around the idea that there is an optimal number of frameworks — that while too few leaves […]

In my youth we lived on the corner of a tiny street in suburban Philadelphia called Shepherd’s Lane.  At the other end of the street, less than half a city block away, the sign read Shepards Lane. The discrepancy bothered me at the time (though not enough to compel me to find out which was […]

Each year when back-to-school bells ring, I recall some of the key lessons I learned there.  Some of the best had little to do with course content—and a lot to do with the process of gaining knowledge.  My first day of high school chemistry, for example, had little to do with chemistry — but provided […]

‘Big data’ wants to choke your organization. Don’t let it happen. What is big data? The McKinsey Global Institute report Big data:  The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity (May 2011) is a relatively well-informed and hype-free description of the opportunities presented by Big Data.  They define Big Data as “datasets whose size is […]

In my previous post I told the admittedly harrowing story of my near-demise in a flood caused by ‘Superstorm’ Sandy.  I consider this a personal intelligence failure of epic proportions. Why would I — who sell my research and advice to companies on things related to threat, early warning, and shifting trends — publicly acknowledge […]

I was nearly killed during the drafting of this post.  I hope that some of you out there in Blogland will benefit from my experience. Part I:  Organic Intelligence West Greenwich Village, New York City—Monday October 29, 2012 4:00pm ET.  As I draft this, I’m in the middle of readying our downtown, Hudson River-fronting New […]