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When taking THE ‘Market Intelligence’ course here at Goizueta, we came across a data set that contained lots of missing values. Yes, I know that most of the data sets you see out there have some missing data or the other. But when I started looking for material on how to deal with these data points (other than simply discarding them) I was frustrated not to find anything for a manager-type audience. Most of the discussion was for statisticians. So, based on what I heard in class, here is a flow diagram that should help. Note that there are some acronyms used, but you can look them up and find out what they mean. They are not difficult.

1. Various Statistical packages have automated functionality to achieve this.
2. Various options available to impute data. Use business judgement.

Optional

• Run analysis with imputed data and dropped cases
• Check for any significant difference in the models
• Provide necessary details of imputation when presenting analysis

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is a book by Dan Heath and Chip Heath.

How can your message stick instead of getting forgotten in a few passing moments? How can you communicate your ideas in such a way that they are remembered and complied upon? That is the treatise of this book. It provides a very interesting framework that you can use, called SUCCESs.

Keep the message SIMPLE – focus on the core message, be clear, forthright, and make it compact. Avoid the ‘Curse of Knowledge’

Get audience’s attention by bringing the UNEXPECTED – Obvious things told in an unobvious ways can help get and retain interests of an audience. Sway away from numbers and focus on the message they send out. There is a gap between what we know and what we understand. Fill those gaps.

Help people understand and remember by being CONCRETE – Don’t be abstract. Speak about actual results, actual stories, and actual outcomes.

Be CREDIBLE – Be convincing by providing necessary details, statistics, and information.

Make people care by adding EMOTION – That is when people will respond to your message. Learn about primary motivation factors and use them judiciously.

Tell a STORY – Nothing sticks better than a story. Use them in such a way that people get a way to act your message. Not leave confused with how to do what to do next.

The book itself is full of stories and examples relating to each of these principles. As a book, I will give it an average rating. That is because in my mind the book is a victim of its own principles. Though interesting, it seems long for its topic and too many examples to remember and keep them sticky. It seems the Heath brothers compiled a list of stories, segregated them into buckets, and them wove some text around it. It is definitely a recommended book but I would suggest reading the first 10 pages of each chapter and the last chapter. If the message sticks, fine. But if not, the book has lost its own purpose.

The authors have a website that provides many resources that you may want to use. I personally do not like to register to access resources. So I cannot rate them here.

This book brought back memories of my Professional Communications class by Prof. Brandon Smith and Prof. Daphne Schechter. If you have access to such classes, I would highly recommend taking them.