Thank you for taking the time to read about (and hopefully reflect upon) the values we seek to espouse at QualQuantAnalytics. This is the first of 13 submissions that will walk through that which we find important in what we do: servicE, neXus, inClude, respEct, eLevate, Love, experiEnce, inNovate, produCe, EXTRAordinary, Initiative, Standards, Motivation. These are the values that will enable our pursuit of EXCELLENCE-ISM in Q2A.
The idea of service is multi-faceted. There is what we do and for whom we do it. Let’s break that down. Police, fire, medical, transit, utility, and other organizations will declare they are “in service” at the beginning of shift. That means what it sounds like it means. Ready to go. Operational. Reliable. When a citizen (a customer) connects with an “in-service” unit, that customer has a certain expectation. It is that unit’s responsibility to deliver in accordance with the customer’s expectation…but, even more than that. The service provider simply must endeavor to deliver what the customer needs, even if it is different than the stated wants. We must get to the root cause of the problem at hand, not the loud symptom that wants to pretend it is the real problem. Being “in-service” means solving real problems, not paying “lip service” to symptoms in problems’ clothes. It’s hard to be ready to address difficult, often complex, situations with a mindset to get true, long-term gains. That’s what Q2A will bring to you. Real insights, aligned against the actual problems faced.
More important than the “what we do” of being “in service” is the “for whom” we do it—being “of service.” I will borrow liberally from James Kerr’s book Legacy, written about the New Zealand All Blacks. The All Blacks have been the best rugby team in the world for decades and Legacy encapsulates their lessons for the business of life. It’s a must read for those that want to lead or be a part of high-performing organizations. Being “of service” is the idea of leaving the space better than we found it. The All Blacks say that their only job is to leave their jersey in a better place. When they take off the number that identifies their position, they have elevated the expectations of that position.
At Q2A, not only do we ask, “how can we help?” but, we are present and observe our environment in a way that enables us to both do what is asked and be a part of the discussion to determine those questions that should be asked and are not at front of mind. We are in-service and on duty, ready to be of service to you and your organization!
What does it mean for Q2A to be “in-service?” or “of service?”
A Partnership Between Humans, Machines, and Algorithms
A significant challenge that faces many organizations that analyze casework is the sheer workload expected of a small number of experts. For example, in large government agencies, there may be tens of thousands of cases that must be researched an adjudicated by analysts that number in the dozen(s). The same problem exists in corporations large and small. SOMEone needs to read through action items and decide where to allocate the scarcest resource of them all: human time and expertise.
When working on behalf of the Department of Army, we examined this problem. The paper linked below details the process and the results, presenting a case prioritization system that utilizes a deep learning classification model trained on expert evaluated insider threat cases to label cases as ‘negligible’, ‘low’, ‘medium’, or ‘high’ threat level. This classification model enables a partnership between machine and human that focuses human effort for the greatest impact. To evaluate the models created, the authors created a metric called ‘detection accuracy rate’ that measured correct prediction and over- estimations of threat, with the best model achieving a 96% detection accuracy rate.
The process uses things that humans are good at like judgment, ethics, and insight and partners those human factors with the things that machines are good at like processing speed, reliability, and bias measurement to streamline and focus efforts. Critically, people are the driving factor at the beginning and the end of the process. Machines and algorithms are used as a tool to fulfill a purpose: ensure the experts are looking in the right place at the right time. There is no tool that can replace a human analyst and there is no person that can work as fast and as reliably as a machine. Together, we can have the best of both worlds!
A Philosophy
When many of us hear a word that ends in “-ism,” we hear interpret a decisively negative connotation, like racism, sexism, or cynicism. Together, let us introduce a new word with a positive meaning that can guide us toward realizing our potential in life and business: EXCELLENCE-ISM.
Over the years, I have worked with and for leaders, coaches, teachers, mentors, managers, bosses, tyrants, micromanagers. The list of descriptors can go on and on. Where many of my teammates were put into one box or another, I seemed to be granted a certain leeway to operate freely inside my sphere of influence, be it small or expansive. Why? After some reflection, I realized it came directly from the philosophy of EXCELLENCE-ISM. What is it? Like any good mathematician, let’s define our terms.
The big idea is the pursuit of excellence. Let’s re-cast “excellence” from being “the best” or “the first” to simply being your true self. Self is the only thing an individual has. If we are our truest self, especially in service to others, good things happen. Being at the top is not good enough. Some people get an “A” without trying. A business owner can get rich by hitting a niche at the right time. Or, maybe being “Number 1” is too much. I could train every day, and I’d never win a marathon. We’ll set aside “number 1” as being either too much or not enough. The -ISM leads us toward excellence in becoming our truest selves.
The -ISM: Initiative, Standards, Motivation. When we show initiative: that innate quality of seeking out the next task and doing it without being told, we’re being a positive and productive teammate. In the restaurant business, we may hear “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” YES! Maintaining high standards that are aligned with an overarching vision of what needs to be done is critical. We identify the things that need to be done and not only we DO them…we do them well. That “old school” pride is still needed today. The final key is motivation. We find that part of what we’re doing that lights our fire. Without the internal drive to keep going in smooth times and in rough, quite simply…none of this is possible.
So, there it is. Through Initiative, Standards, and Motivation, we may achieve EXCELLENCE—become and stay our truest selves.
Please let me know how these elements may have impacted you personally or professionally—thank you for reading and engaging!