Tomorrow I was going to go visit one of our insurance clients. I was really looking forward to the meeting – a chance to share experiences with a strategic analytic team. Unfortunately, I got an e-mail from the team’s administrative assistant: “I’m sorry, but so-and-so needs to cancel. An important meeting with our CEO just came up and we need to prepare. Can we reschedule?” Hey, no problem – work happens, we’ll find a new time.

With my schedule freed up, I found some time to daydream. One of the things that happens when you’re in the field is that meetings get moved around all of the time: Flexibility is in the job description. But I think this is the first time ever that I’ve had a meeting moved because I got bumped by the CEO. Now let’s think about that – you know you’ve made it in analytics when your CEO needs you. In fact, in all the companies that I’ve spent time with over the years, I think this is the first time that I’ve heard of a direct interaction between the CEO of a large company and the analytic team (usually, it’s comes down through whatever area the analytic team reports to, typically finance or actuarial).

With my time freed up, my mind began to wander. I imagined a phone on the CEO’s desk – you know, like the one Commissioner Gordon had for Batman – red with no numbers on it – except it’s for Stat-Man. The CEO flashes the Stat-Signal in the night sky (it’s a sigma, of course), then picks up the phone and says “Stat-Man, I have an emergency – we need your numbers, NOW!” The Stat-Man mobilizes, produces the rocket-science analysis and saves the company. Afterwards, Stat-Man takes off in the Stat-Mobile. (Naturally, in my dream, Stat-Man is actually Stat-Woman, but that’s neither here nor there.)

All joking aside – a big congratulations to the CEO for taking a strategic view on analytics, the organization on committing to an analytic strategy, and the analytic team for making it real. I hope the next time I get bumped, it’s because the CEO called.