Assessing the situation by Meta Brown

Modern computers and software make it easy to dive into data and explore, so why delay the action with assessment and planning? Why not get right down to business and see what develops? Your organization, be it business, a government agency, or nonprofit, has a mission. Your role as a data miner is to provide relevant information in support of that mission. Assessment and planning early in the data mining process aligns your efforts with management goals and maximizes your chances of developing information that is actionable, rather than merely interesting.

Time is your most precious resource, so ensure that you use it to meet the expectations set out for you. There's a simple survival motivation—if you don't deliver what your manager requires, and on time, it won't be good for you. Yet you want more than mere survival. It feels good to uncover really useful information, to find something that was not obvious to others, or to give...