At the end of the year, many people stop to reflect. Businesses use this time to consider the accomplishments of the past year and establish goals for the upcoming year. For the analysts here at 9Lenses reflection is essential for generating insight. Since we have a large volume of data that we handle, we have to understand how each data point relates to the next. Constructing these spatial relations is a matter of practice and perseverance. Reflection helps us understand the trends in the data. By reflecting on the nature of the business problems we examine, we can establish commonality, divergence, and comparability.

In light of this reflective spirit, we have created three categories and populated them with the top three comments from 2012. These are the Best Comments of 2012.

A. Three Most Upbeat Comments

1. IT Wizardry 

“Our IT department is the "bomb.!" They work with limited resources and are very efficient in responding the Help requests!”

Occasionally, the analysts find some very interesting information in our data. We noticed that employees of this company revered there IT department. This seemed odd to us because most of the time people only notice support services when they are dysfunctional. For whatever reason, this IT department delivered superior service to the company despite their limited resources

“[This is a] merit based, non-bureaucratic, fast moving company that will make money for itself and its employees.”

Businesses prize efficiency and optimization. In the world of market economies, those who are not deft, swift, and agile will eventually be left behind. While this basic assumption is pervasive, it is easy lose sight of this insight amidst the technical challenges of day-to-day operations. One might think that their company is adequate when it is actually quite cumbersome. Consequently, reflection helps us gain a valuable perspective about our company. As this comment demonstrates, adaptability affords companies with many opportunities.

“There has been a dramatic turn around in attitude, enthusiasm, and energy with the recent change in CEO. The company’s employees are highly motivated and excited to pursue the common good of the company and each other.”

Even the most morose individual can appreciate an inspirational turnaround story. There are times when companies face daunting challenges. Often, people can become discouraged by these perceived failures. However, as this company discovered, if there are inspirational champions in the company, people will be encouraged to pursue excellence. This kind of inspiration can turn a company away from imminent catastrophe to venerable success.

B. Three Most Despondent Comments

“Penny wise, pound foolish is the best way to describe the situation in the last few years. Employees weren't provided with necessary resources to do their job efficiently and nothing was done to better morale and professional development”

However, for every success there are many failures. One of the most common problems we come across is that the law of scarcity often means companies do not have enough resources to operate effectively. This could be a lack of raw capital, employee talent, or manpower. As this commenter noted, this unfortunately cripples morale and long-term development.

“We went from a small, cohesive, productive work environment, to "tired", "misunderstood", "I don't matter anymore" type of attitude ... Breaks my heart to have this same area filled with over-worked, tired, stressed out employees, where we shared such great ideas, hopes for growth and you couldn't even get tired after 12-14 hour days because the adrenaline of being a part of something big was bigger than any need for sleep!”

Understanding the importance of employee culture can often mean the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, this commenter has discovered the hard way that if culture isn’t managed, people will become discouraged and burn out.

“Common sense was thrown out the window a long time ago. For every dedicated hard working employee we have there are five employees that care about getting a check every two weeks and that is it. …No one talks to each other. you think you have given all the information for a project to be handed off but it never gets to the right person. It is amazing we have stayed in business with the incompetence that we have.”

Proper motivation is key to providing the drive to persevere and excel. If an employee is not motivated, they will not perform. As this comment illustrated, if a paycheck is the only motivation for remaining at a company, there is little reason for that employee to improve or excel.

C. Three Most Useful Comments

“I feel that one reason the culture has turned around is due to the Fun Committee. Having different events and including everyone has resulted in a better work environment.”

Morale, however, cannot be neglected. Some companies have found creative ways of overcoming work stress. This is perhaps one of the most creative ideas for building a business culture. This company has a committee that planned social functions for the company. Interestingly, their efforts helped improve the overall morale of the company by building employee relationships.

“Sending a corporate email with substantive information at a point in time is not the best communication method. Any employees hired after the email is sent will likely never receive that communication. We need to work on the intranet platform, so we can figure out a way to house corporate communications / important roll-outs and messaging in a way that's accessible beyond a single email or point in time.”

Effective communication is essential. However, it is also where most people struggle. It is easy to forget that one needs to consider the most effective means of communication, the method of delivery, and clarity of conversation. It is not enough to simply talk, one must communicate. Part of effective communication involves effective documentation. This commenter has interesting idea for tracking information that would otherwise be lost. Preservation of essential information saves people pain in the future.

3. Expertise is the Differentiator

“We have a wide range of expertise available in the company and have provided unique approaches to projects that have saved clients time and money in implementing projects. Sometimes we are called in to "clean up" after a client's project has gone awry. Sometimes clients call us because they have been referred by others who had similar problems that this company was instrumental in devising solutions. Sometimes we have a unique analytical or assessment capability that allows us to better serve clients”

This is an excellent example of diverse expertise in an area of work. It is important to remember that success is not a matter of luck; it is the product of perseverance, dedication, and knowledge. This is what defines expertise and separates the good companies from the mediocre ones. One cannot succeed if they do not refine their skills and strive to continually improve.

The New Year

In light of this drive to improve, we at 9Lenses look forward to what 2013 brings. It will be a year with challenges, but challenges help us improve. Every year is a year for learning and improvement. Therefore, reflection should occur often. Since we can never know enough, no one can neglect the value of insight. That is the key to excellence. Happy New Year!

In a widely-shared article that made its way to the top of LinkedIn Today, enterprise performance author Bernard Marr argues that "the most successful companies today make decisions not on beliefs or gut-feel but mainly on facts and data-driven insights." This quote sounds eerily familiar. 

An executive at a Fortune 500 company, when responding to an Operations Lens diagnostic in the 9Lenses "Business 360" said almost the same thing: "Our culture is that we want to make a decision and move to execute. We never study the problem, leading to debates based on belief not fact." 

So here it is: Google is notorious for hiring smart, talented, and credentialed people. Why all the hubbub about listening, then? Could it be that making decisions on fact, rather than belief, is a smart way to do business? Obviously. But is it a possible way of doing business for the rest of us? It is now. Social technology and good data management can be combined to reveal actionable insights across your company. This is the strategy recommended by 4-time CEO Edwin Miller in Insight to Action: A Social Approach to Business Optimization, which proposes a framework for leadership clarity that is only possible by with today's technology.

Can you imagine this world?

• Instead of paying a consultant for discovery, you collect unfiltered insight from all stakeholders on any business problem or the business as a whole. You might still need the consultant, post discovery phase, but chances are that your people told you how to improve.
• Instead of collecting unstructured noise like Yammer, your "top challenges" and "biggest strengths" are immediately clear across all 9Lenses.
• Someone three floors down that knows you are about to lose a contract; another employee is thinking of suing; a manager is thinking of leaving; a customer is upset—you gave this person a voice.
• Every year, quarter, or month you see upticks and downticks across your organization, benchmark it against other companies, and diagnose organizational health on an ongoing basis.

That world is here now. Start making decisions like Google.