Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions

by Phil Simon

The era of Big Data as arrived, and most organizations are woefully unprepared. Slowly, many are discovering that stalwarts like Excel spreadsheets, KPIs, standard reports, and even traditional business intelligence tools aren't sufficient. These old standbys can't begin to handle today's increasing streams, volumes, and types of data. Amidst all of the chaos, though, a new type of organization is emerging. In" The Visual Organization," award-winning author and technology expert Phil Simon looks at how an increasingly number of organizations are embracing new dataviz tools and, more important, a new mind-set based upon data discovery and exploration. Simon adroitly shows how Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other tech heavyweights use powerful data visualization tools to garner fascinating insights into their businesses. But make no mistake: these companies are hardly alone. Organizations of all types, industries, sizes are representing their data in new and amazing ways. As a result, they are asking better questions and making better business decisions.Rife with real-world examples and case studies, "The Visual Organization "is a full-color tour-de-force.

Genres: Business, Technology, Design

236 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Phil Simon is a dynamic keynote speaker, world-renowned collaboration and technology authority, and advisor. He is the award-winning author of 14 non-fiction books, most recently The Nine: The Tectonic Forces Reshaping the Workplace.

He consults organizations on communications, collaboration, project management, and technology. His contributions have appeared in The Harvard Business Review, CNN, The New York Times, and many other popular media outlets. He also hosts the podcast Conversations About Collaboration.

Reviews

[Santiago Ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, published books about information visualization focused on the design results and gavefew or none insight about how visualizations are actually being used. This is bad because we don’t have the full story, we miss what is probably the most important information we need to know which visualization techniques and strategies are the good ones, and which the bad ones: the user feedback. Think on UX, product development and the lean methodology: we now understand that only researching on how a project is actually being used (in actual contexts, by actual users) we can know when there is real value on it. But in the infovis field we don’t have that culture… maybe some have, there are exceptions for sure, but it’s not yet represented in blogs or books.

The formal way visualization methods are assessed is in experiments with control groups, that is: out of any possible real context. These tests mainly focus on perception and memory. But information visualization is a complex media, a communication channel, a new writing, a one that goes way beyond techniques to convey specific numeric values and help memorize them. Those approaches are equivalent to assess a book by the reading quality of its font. Yes, with a very bad font the book can be ruined and a reader won’t understand, enjoy or memorize a thing; but you don’t asses a book solely by the font it uses. Another metaphor: imagine evaluating a tennis player solely by her mental and physical conditions, but not taking into account her performance on the court!.

As a visualization professional, I was long expecting lecture material about the real life of visualization: how it’s being used within organizations, which are the success and the failures cases, how complex a visualization should be in order to be innovative and compelling without generating fears, etc… I need that guide to help me delivering the best possible results to my clients.

Phil Simon did the job: he knocked doors at several companies (not all opened) and made the right questions. The Visual Organization is a book that reveals at least two important facts: 1. companies, regardless of their size, need to incorporate data to survive, and visual tools could be of great help, if not required, 2. this is not an easy step: the market of data science and visualization tools is a mess, and a company needs to research a lot and probably try different solutions. The book is definitively of great help for a company that wants to become a visual organization: Phil describes four levels that serve as a map to make consistent steps towards that goal.


I missed in the book more specific information. Except for a few remarkable cases, I was eager to know more about the specific visualization methods, how they work, how they were used, when they failed and succeeded and why. A book with such a degree of detail would be 1800 pages long, and, on another hand, the book provides you the necessary information to further investigation. I expect Phil will continue filling the hole in the water, and that others will follow his lead. Meanwhile, The Visual Organization is a must for visualization professionals that are concerned about how their projects perform in real life, and for companies that want to become more data(visual)-driven.

[André Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know that "today the average man is exposed to more data in a single day than his fifteenth-century counterpart was in his entire lifetime"? That's awesome, isn't it? Besides, "anyone today can access a wide trove of scientific, economic, health, census, and government data". More and more data sources are being released every day for us to make use of it.

A visual organization that recognizes the power of data and use it for its benefit. This book gave me a very good overview of everything that is happening right know in the world of #dataviz, and also some tips of where I can look to get more information about it and where too see it being applied in practice.

I definetly recommend the reading.

[Angela Risner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a great starter reference for anyone who is interested in learning how to leverage data to improve business outcomes. I say starter reference because I think it spends more time explaining what the book is, what each chapter will cover, etc., rather than actually providing detailed information as to how to collect and analyze data. It's unfortunate, because this is a subject that deserves a great amount of detail and discussion.

Recommend only as a starting point for dataviz.


© Angela Risner 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Goodreads or Angela Risner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Risner with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a whole lot of filler to convey that companies are using big data to propel their business forward, and you should too. You should really only read this if you care about how this guy uses Twitter.

[Howard Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A real yawner. I thought it might be fun as my company was mentioned, but it was dry and dull and now very dated. Hard pass.

[Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Association]

Phil Simon (DC 1993), Author

From the author:
The era of Big Data as arrived but, on many levels, most organizations are woefully unprepared. Far too many enterprises erroneously believe and act like nothing has really changed. As such, they continue to depend exclusively on reporting stalwarts like Microsoft Excel, static dashboards, basic query applications, and even traditional business intelligence tools. And they are missing out on tremendous opportunities. Amidst all of the hype and confusion surrounding Big Data, though, a new type of enterprise is emerging: The Visual Organization. A relative handful of organizations has realized that today's ever-increasing data streams, volumes, and velocity require new applications. In turn, these new tools promote a different mind-set--one based upon data discovery and exploration, not conventional enterprise "reporting." For instance, Netflix builds cutting-edge dataviz tools to better understand its 40 million customers. And it's hardly alone in its innovative use of new data visualization technologies. Employees at Autodesk use a remarkable and interactive tool that visualizes current and historical employee movement. From this, they can identify potential management issues and see what a corporate reorg really looks like. Through cutting-edge dataviz, startup Wedgies instantly serves up real-time poll results while monitoring poll traction and site issues. The University of Texas is bringing a visual type of transparency to academia. It makes unprecedented amounts and sources of institutional data available on its website. Anyone with the desire and an Internet connection can slice and dice UT data in myriad ways. And then there's eBay. Powerful data-discovery tools allow employees to effectively "see" what ebay.com would look like as a brick-and-mortar store. In The Visual Organization, award-winning author, keynote speaker, and recognized technology expert Phil Simon demonstrates how progressive enterprises have turned traditional dataviz on its head. In their stead, they are embracing new, interactive, and more robust tools that help locate the signals in the noise that is Big Data. As a result, these enterprises are asking better questions and making better business decisions. Rife with real-world examples and practical advice, The Visual Organization is a full-color tour de force. Simon deftly explains how organizations can do more than just survive the data deluge; they can thrive in it. It is required reading for executives, professionals, and others interested in unleashing the power of their data.