On my ride in to work this morning it was really foggy, and I realized that I missed one very important point that transcends the line between motorcycling and business intelligence. In a way, I am glad that I forgot it, because it is quite possibly one of the most important points that can be made on the similarities between motorcycling and business intelligence.
If you ride a motorcycle I am sure you have heard things like ”Ride like you are invisible” or ”Loud pipes save lives.” Now I personally don’t prescribe to that last piece of rider wisdom, and I follow the “loud colors saves lives” motto since light travels faster than sound. When I ride, especially in heavy traffic areas, I wear a bright white helmet and what is described as a “hi-viz” jacket. I’m sure you’ve seen them as they are either bright green or orange, similar to what DOT construction workers wear or what police officers wear when directing traffic. When you ride, it’s important to stay visible because when no one notices you that’s when you can get hurt. Things like choice of clothing, lane positioning, following distance and even the headlight on your motorcycle all play a part is your ability to remain visible. I’ve never understood the logic of wearing black protective gear because all you do is blending with the road you are riding on, and no one can see you from a distance.
Staying visible in a business intelligence sense can be tricky, because sometimes the value that you are adding to the business in only realized by the people seeing that direct benefit. As a team, it is important to be evangelists for the work you do! I’ve seen some team put out a monthly news letter with articles written by the business users they have helped, including cost savings and the potential return on investment.
Have you ever hear a C-level executive say something like “This quarter’s performance is solely based on the decisions I was able to make thanks to the data that our business intelligence solution enabled me to analyze”?
Me neither.
So we have to be vigilant in presenting not only quality solutions to the business, but we also have to be our own PR machine so that the business knows how great we are for the business! Here are a few more ideas to help publicize yourself to the organization.
Schedule “Lunch and Learn” events and invite different areas of the business to learn about what you have done, be sure and provide lunch.
Conduct training on tools or the solution itself to key business members so they know how to best use what they have been given.
Create a team website, post regularly about what the team is doing, and what is on the BI horizon.
Write something in the corporate newsletter, direct them to your team’s website for more information.
If you’ve done some truly amazing things, you can do these things as well, because if you can be nationally recognized for the work you’ve done, the business will take notice as well.
Publish a white paper talking about your solution, or unique ways you used tools or technology to bring value to the business.
Submit your work to TDWI for the TDWI Best Practice Award.
Work with your tool vendor and become a case study.
Of you are extremely creative, you can go the SAP route and produce an awesome video to send out internally to promote BI4ALL!
In motorcycling being visible can mean the difference between making it to your destination, or ending up in the hospital (or worse) and in business intelligence it is just as important. If the business doesn’t know you are there, they won’t know who to ask when they need a business intelligence solution, and worse yet, when times get tough it may be the BI team on the chopping block.
