8 years ago
Taking Action on Technical Success: A Fable of Data Science and Consequences

Note: This story is fiction, but it is based on experience with real clients. Any resemblance to people you know is incidental. You can read the prequel to this episode here.

Michael’s Tale, Continued

TalkThree’s new Analytics Director, Michael, has had a sobering month. What he had hoped would be his first major contribution to his company has fallen flat. His team created a model which was intended to address a pressing challenge for TalkThree: a steady stream of departing cellular phone service customers, known as “churners.” Their model predicts who is most likely to leave, and though he delivered it enthusiastically, it received an unexpectedly lukewarm reception from the customer retention team, so Michael has spent the last few weeks working with Lanny, the customer retention team leader, to cobble together a business process for using the model’s results.