There is simply no way to describe to someone who has not been through it, the feelings and emotions that come with starting a new organization. Last week officially marked the beginning of our second-quarter at Analytic Vizion. 13 Mondays after waking up for the first time as a brand-new business owner, I woke up in Newport, Rhode Island with the opportunity to share a powerful new analytic insights platform we built for a massive industry with 75 CEOs who are leaders in their space. These are the moments that remind you that you have no idea what hangs in the balance when you choose to step out on faith and trust that the company you are called to create and lead truly can create an amazing impact. An impact felt not only in the marketplace, but even more so in the people and relationships of those who share the vision with you and choose to run alongside of you.
So far we have exceeded every target we have set for ourselves – revenue, clients, people, and impact. And yet I can’t help but feel that we are simply at the tip of the iceberg. There is so much opportunity in the marketplace to help solve the challenges that face organizations as they empower their people with data and analytics. And yet I still believe we are going to be even more successful because our focus is on loving and caring for people, leading well our team members and our clients, and creating a place where passionate people can thrive.
This was always the vision. This was always the hope. It is the reason that we wanted to be so reminded of the vision that started all of this, that we went so far as to put it in our name – Analytic Vizion. So with each quarter that passes I plan to go back and remind us all of what the vision was on Day One, that we may continue to strive toward it and hold ourselves accountable for it and dream bigger dreams that push us to it.
Thank you to everyone who has in one way or another been part of this organization in these initial few months. Thank you to the clients who have given us the opportunity to serve their organizations. Thank you to the consultants who have partnered with us and given us their time and talents. Thank you to the many mentors who have provided wise counsel to young guy with altruistic dreams. Thank you to the Atlanta community – there is simply no other place in the world I would rather launch this dream than right here at home.
And now, here is that dream we dreamed not so long ago:
Analytic Vizion – We are Leading. To. Insight.
We believe that data and technology will be the driving force of the innovation that will fuel the growth of the next generation of business.
At the same time, we believe that there is a shortage of true servant leaders who can bring together teams who will be able to truly capitalize on the valuable opportunities standing in front of their teams and organizations.
We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in the marketplace, both in helping to solve the most technical challenges facing organizations today, but also in helping to grow and shape the next generation of leaders, who will solve these challenges of the future, at scale.
To that end, I am grateful to have the opportunity to announce the creation of a new organization, built on the foundation of love and service, that exists to help organizations thrive through data visualization and analytic storytelling, by focusing on creating the next generation of data and technology leaders in the marketplace.
This is Analytic Vizion, and we are Leading. To. Insight.
Leading.
Our goal, is to find the best and brightest in the data and technology space, love them and teach them to lead as servants, while solving the most challenging problems in the marketplace, with the goal to launch them back into the marketplace as the next generation of leaders. We exist to create and launch this next generation of leaders to face the most critical challenges of our time – leading teams and organizations through the fastest pace of growth and innovation in human history.
We aim to be an organization with servant leadership built into its DNA. We believe that this type of leadership, done with excellence, is rocket fuel for the success of any organization. As James Hunter so beautifully put it, we believe that “leadership begins with the will, which is our unique ability as human beings to align our intentions with our actions and choose our behavior. With the proper will, we can choose to love, the verb, which is about identifying and meeting the legitimate needs, not wants, of those we lead. When we meet the needs of others, we will by definition, be called upon to serve and even sacrifice. When we serve and sacrifice for others, we build authority or influence…. And when we build authority with people, then we have earned the right to be called leader.” Patrick Lencioni, author of Five Disfunctions of a Team, believes that, “We need to stop talking about servant leadership like it is a special form of leadership. There is no other type of leadership if you want to be a leader worth following.” The concepts of servant leadership and their surrounding principles will be a primary focus of this organization, and a huge part of the growth for every person that joins our team.
By creating an organization so invested in our people, our clients will see amazing results. By focusing on the data and technology space, we will be impacting some of the most critical parts of our clients businesses.
Historically, consulting firms, and most other organizations on the planet, work hard to retain their best and brightest, and are sad when they move on to the next opportunity. We will have a different model, graduating leaders after 3 to 6 years, and launching them back in to the marketplace into roles as CDOs, CIOs, CTOs, COOs, CEOs, VPs, MDs, and team leaders, celebrating with them as they go. Our heart is to fundamentally change what the marketplace sees as leadership, and we know that in order to do this we are proposing to create a fundamentally different model than has existed in the past. Cheryl Bachelder, former CEO of Popeyes believes that leaders like this are “in short supply. This is evident by the lackluster performance results of many organizations and institutions.” She believes there are not enough, as she calls them, “Dare-to-Serve Leaders to run global businesses. There are not enough Dare-to-Serve Leaders to create and operate small businesses. There are not enough Dare-to-Serve Leaders to run other institutions such as government, education, the arts, and charitable organizations. If there were, the global economy would be growing at an incredible pace. The world’s problems would find solutions. The people would be well served. The performance results would be stunning.” We humbly desire to play a role in the marketplace where we can have even the smallest influence on creating amazing outcomes.
Speaking personally, I want to build an organization that will impact the person who will one day lead my four boys. Beyond any one technical solution we may one day create, we believe our greatest contribution would be to create fundamental changes in organizational leadership that will drive generational impact. We desire to create an organization where the leaders we launch become some of the most sought after in the marketplace. To create a consulting firm whose graduates might one day be held in the same esteem as those from the top business schools in the country.
We believe all of this is possible, and we are looking to team and partner with those who are willing to share our Vizion.
To.
We are going somewhere. We have a vision for the impact that great leaders with powerful insights can have on their organizations. Our teams will be looking to drive and create some of the most innovative solutions in the data and technology space that the marketplace has seen to date. True leadership requires only two things – a leader with a vision of where their team must go, and followers desiring to go there with them. We will be willing to help tackle some of the greatest challenges facing our clients, with methodologies and expertise that will lead to amazing outcomes for the organizations that we serve.
Nearly every organization would profess to have the desire to become “data-driven”, yet for so many, the most insightful learnings are in the hands of just a few of the most talented and brightest early adopters. We desire to help create cultures of data literacy, common metric understanding, and couple that with excitement and passion that creates champions throughout the business. This inevitably leads to the desired environment of creating a data-driven culture at any organization. And we would love to help lead your organization there.
Insight.
We know that if we want to impact organizations in the data and technology space, there is no better place to start than creating insight. We desire to empower existing business leaders to make the next right decision that will help drive their organizations forward. By working hand-in-hand with our clients to ‘clarify the win’, we will partner together to think through each of the steps that will lead their projects to the most successful outcomes possible.
We have to be amazing storytellers of what the data is saying for it to have its full and deserved impact. The greatest data storyteller of our modern time, Hans Rosling said “Having the data is not enough – I have to show it in a way that people enjoy and understand.” We too believe that bringing the data and the story together creates an impact that is greater than the sum of its parts.
We are also chasing the enablement of more data-driven conversations, which means we must help create more data literate cultures every time we have the opportunity to impact an organization. We see data literacy as the next great challenge inside most organizations, as they progress through the adoption curve of analytical insights. We believe most organizations still have much work to do on the journey to becoming truly “data-driven” and that the best tool for understanding data, which continues to get bigger all the time, is and will continue to be interactive visualization.
We believe that the power of insight should not be limited to simply those large companies in the marketplace, but rather we have the vision to impact any organization working to improve the lives of others around the world. We believe so much that leaders should care about great human outcomes that we invite each consultant to take on passion projects for up to 10% of their hours at a reduced rate to focus on and support nonprofits and NGOs that are impacting the world for the better. This is so fundamental to our culture that even on day one we have already partnered with two organizations in this space as we seek to create a global impact with data and insight.
Analytic Vizion – we are Leading. To. Insight.
Today is day one of this brand-new organization. Yes, we have big dreams, but even more than that, we have a bigger Vizion for the impact we might one day have on the marketplace and society as a whole. We invite you to follow along, and one day hope you will be a part of this Vizion with us.
Nelson Davis
President, Chief Vizioneer, and Founding Partner