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Board Governance and Data Ethics

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Data ethics is the integration of ethical thinking with the constraints of data and centres on how to make better decisions that ensures ethical outcomes. Data ethics is a broad topic encapsulating data and ethical decisions, data-based judgement, bias, ethics of collecting and analysing data, and the ethics of automation created by data.   The data we collected in 2010 could paint a low quality, black and white, abstract picture of our world and the data could be used to inform, frame or guide. In 2020, the data collected can describe our world in high-definition colour and is being used to mould, form and shape actions in complicated environments. We are accelerating our collection and use of data.  Boards need to get deep and dirty with data and the ethics of judgement based on data, it is complex and often requires new skills.   Boards are biased towards professionals who represent experience in finance, legal, operations, marketing and sales.  These “core functions” are supported

Is KPI's innovations nemesis?

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Why is innovation perceived as so much easier in startup-land?   The focus of this article is on the application of # data for # growth through # innovation . The insights are independent of company structure or leadership. The prime recommendations are:  One. Discover and break the right number of critical links between outcomes and rewards/ incentives. Two. Find and modify reinforcement linkages between outcomes and culture so that all questions can be rewarded + + + + + +  Figure 1 details the blocks that are used in the diagrams which will describe the systems of innovation. The blue circle is choice or a decision-making block; the grey squares are where people are involved in the system, and the oval shape is the beginning or end of a process. Figure 1: explaining the blocks Figure 2 presents a generic & simplified innovation process in startup-land. The purpose is not to explain all innovation in all startups, but to identify critical differences to the corporate world and

When did forced consent become good governance?

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I have been invited to a seminar on “The Importance of ESG Post-Covid” ESG being environment (environmental), social (society) and governance. Surely the organiser, a leading network for independent non-executive directors, had considered what being forced into consent means. How can anyone speak to governance when the basics of their own process is flawed? The question, “when did forced consent become good governance?”

Competing with digital, which can only be cold and transactional

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Physical retail has driven its staff to become more disengaged in a drive for efficiency over effectiveness.  The leadership team drives for speed of service rather than nicer. Income favours support.  It is a response to digital, margin erosion and believing that price is the driver in a commodity world.  It has resulted in a dumbing down of staff to a point where the check out is a process, and as a customer, I am self-service. Retail has mirrored digital, which is also cold and transactional.    In the digital world, Amazon wins as it is more convenient, and I am self-service.   In this new digital world personalisation, gamification and loyalty are now just cold and transactional engagement demanding attention.  AI can try to be something better, but I am sure I will feel the same.   Physical Retail can do something digital cannot.  Physical retail can do togetherness, human connectedness and community.  Perhaps #covid19 has shown where physical retail should be going and not retr

The problem with immutable data (memory) is there is an assumption it leads to better outcomes.

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Is a fossil an immutable memory? An immutable object (in coding) is an object whose value cannot change. A more generic definition of “immutable” is that it is unchanging over time or unable to be changed.  Again, in code, what does immutable mean behind the scenes in terms of memory?  An object is created and given a value, is then assigned some space in memory . The variable name bound to the object points to that place in memory, and as long as the memory is not changed, it is immutable. As long as the memory is not changed, it is immutable. The risk is that something writes over that part of memory and the immutable is lost.   However, human memory is not immutable. Human memory is all rather made up.  We are poor at recall, and we can easily be biased to focus on one thing and miss the obvious ( remember the gorilla experiment on selective attention). At the same time, we don’t know how our memory works, and there are a lot of theories, the overall agreement is that it is weak