Larry Shiller: Data Leaders Must Embrace Creativity and Experimentation

‘Never Stop Experimenting,’ Implores Rising Stars
Foundation CDO Larry Shiller COVID-19 has been a stark
reminder of why data leaders must embrace creativity and
experimentation, Rising Stars Foundation CDO Larry Shiller argues
in this week’s podcast

It’s been a tough year for Rising Stars Foundation. Roughly 70%
of home schooling curricula sales come from in-person conferences
between March and July. So, COVID-19 forced the charity to
rethink its whole plan for 2020.


However, the foundation’s CDO, Larry Shiller, seems to have taken
this unprecedented disruption in his stride. In this week’s
episode of the Business of Data podcast, he shares how he helped
the organization swiftly pivot its strategy to avert disaster.


“The pandemic [has] just accelerated existing trends toward
better data leverage,” he argues. “It’s prompting more creative
thinking or more lateral thinking.”


Faced with a potentially catastrophic loss of revenue, Rising
Stars Foundation rolled out a new strategy built around promoting
its digital curricula, creating YouTube tutorials and driving
social media engagement.


“Data analysis of all that stuff was obviously critical to
determining its success,” Shiller says. “We used data and
analytics to grow revenue and reduce risk and expense.”


“So far, our sales have been down 10% year over year,” he adds.
“But that could easily have gone down 70% if we didn’t take these
proactive steps early on in the pandemic.”


This is not the first time the charity has had to turn on a dime.
Shiller says he initially thought the first iteration of his
algorithm for measuring a person’s ‘grit’ was a failure. The
project started life as a study program that was too tough for
most kids to complete. When universities told Shiller they wanted
to know about the determined few who got all the way through, he
realized the value of what he’d created.


He says: “I like to tell people, ‘I have a new idea. I’m excited
about it. But be forewarned, 99% of my ideas suck.'”


“That’s OK, because eventually we’re going to find the one that
really does work,” he concludes. “So, let’s keep making those
mistakes, so we can find the next transformative analysis or
breakthrough.”
Key Takeaways


Update your data strategy regularly. This year
has proven that data leaders must sometimes totally rethink
their plans in light of new business priorities


Create a safe space for innovation. Not all
experiments result in immediate success. But trying new things
is essential for driving company innovation


Look for the good in bad outcomes. Negative
results are still results, and they provide insights that point
the way to the breakthroughs you’re looking for