Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bean, Randy, author.
Title: Fail fast, learn faster : lessons in data-driven leadership in an age of disruption, big data, and AI / Randy Bean ; foreword by Thomas H. Davenport.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2021] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021021562 (print) | LCCN 2021021563 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119806226 (Hardback) | ISBN 9781119806240 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781119806233 (ePub)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership—Technological innovations. | Business—Technological innovations. | Business—Data processing. | Artificial intelligence.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 .B42794 2021 (print) | LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | DDC 658.400285—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021562
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021563
Cover image: © Getty Images / Sbayram
Cover design: Paul McCarthy
To
Beth Black
Matthew Bean
Christopher Bean
May every journey be an adventure.
FOREWORD
I suspect that if you bought or picked up this book, you are already convinced of the value of data, both big and small. You already believe that it can transform companies. You already admire the “born digital” companies that have turned data into incredible value. You don't need to be convinced that every company is now a data company. You just want to find out how best to make this all happen.
But I also suspect that you, like many fans of data, believe that the most effective key to its successful use is the latest information technology. Turn some Hadoop, some Python, some Tensorflow, some Pytorch loose on your data, and it will begin to sing. Throw in some Internet of Things sensors, some edge computing, a pinch of deep learning, and perhaps a little augmented/virtual reality, and it will all start to make sense. Maybe you think that you will read about those cool technologies in this book.
If so, I believe you are wrong, but you should not be the least bit disappointed in the book you have before you. It is perhaps even more important for “full tech stack” devotees to read this book than for the fiercest Luddite to do so. Many people believe that technology is the key to organizations becoming data-driven. But let me give you one statistic from Randy Bean's own annual survey that may disabuse you of that notion.
As Bean explains further in the book, every year he conducts a survey on big data, analytics, and AI issues among large companies, most of them in the financial services or healthcare/life sciences industry. These are admittedly mostly “legacy” companies, but they spend huge amounts of money on technology and data, and hire some very smart people to manage them. When Bean surveys these individuals, he asks them an interesting question (among many others):
“What is the principal challenge to your organization becoming data-driven?”
There are only two possible responses: (1) people/business process/culture and (2) technology. In the most recent 2021 survey, 92% of these well-paid and smart people in big companies pointed the finger at people/process/culture, and only 8% believed the problem was technology. The numbers in the previous four years in which he asked the question on the survey were approximately the same.
This failure to make progress may seem discouraging, but you have picked the right book to cheer yourself up. The focus of Fail Fast, Learn Faster is primarily how ordinary human beings can use data and technology to improve their businesses. Randy Bean has worked with many of the largest companies on Earth, and he often tells me when we attend Boston Red Sox games together that the problems he encounters are almost exclusively human, cultural, organizational, and political. And that has been my experience as well in a long career of working with the same types of people and organizations.
The lessons of this book are delivered in clear language and without technical jargon. I've worked with Bean for almost 20 years, and I've read a lot of his writing. He prides himself on his ability to communicate about technical subjects to people with no technical backgrounds. If you are someone in a business role who has heard about such topics as big data, artificial intelligence, and digitization, and you want to know what all the fuss is about without getting lost in technical detail, you have come to the right place. Bean has made a successful career out of telling senior business executives what technology and data mean to them in clear terms. Many of them have turned to him in part because they can't understand what their own technology people are telling them.
Part of that communications ability is based on effective storytelling, and Bean has included many story-based examples in the book. His consulting firm works with many of the executives and companies profiled in these pages, so he has the ability to provide context and broad perspective on the issues addressed in each situation. They are the classic recurring themes in technology management in business: how to align technology efforts with business strategy, how business leaders and technology managers can collaborate effectively, how large, established firms can compete with disruptive startups,
