Selecting Winning Projects

Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.

—Viktor Frankl

Before we go further in our discussion, let's take a moment to define winning projects. Winning projects are those analytics projects that are widely understood by business executives, sponsors, subject matter experts, project review members, portfolio managers, finance professionals, and the analytics team. Winning projects are prioritized in the analytics backlog and chosen as areas of strategic and tactical importance to the success and improved operations of the company. The most important and selected analytics projects are then measured and compared to a wide range of other projects that the company needs to execute, and the final selection process is undertaken. The resulting projects have been carefully scoped...