I rarely watch the late night talk shows, but when such a gem comes along, well, it’s time to turn lemons into lemonade. While I was focusing on completing the 30 Days to Become a Better Monarch Modeler series, NBC kindly provided us with a rare opportunity to learn from their disastrous mess and expensive experiment.
Know what to do next
Don’t wait until your current show/host (system/data) has run its course. To take it to another level, begin taking steps now to replace it with a new show/system, or likely better yet, extend the useful life of the functional, if struggling, show/system by implementing a new host/data tool.
Consider adding Monarch to your overall information system, or by upgrading your ten year old Monarch software that doesn’t let you take advantage of your current MS Office software.
Misplaced Trust is Expensive
In his last episodes, Conan racked up some big bills by playing songs that required costly royalty payments, and joked with the audience about stealing everything that wasn’t nailed down. Yes, it probably made for good television, arguably some of his best, but at what cost to NBC and General Electric?
As a Monarch user, or as a manager of Monarch users, know that all that easy to use analytical ability carries with it a lot of responsibility. Be aware that Monarch can take full advantage of secure systems in terms of both acquiring data and sharing it.
Also, Monarch v10 can utilize your digital signatures so that the recipients of your Monarch work will know that they can trust your work too.
You’ve Got to Progress
Back in 2004, NBC promised Conan the Tonight Show, presumably to keep him from leaving the network at the time. But now that has happened anyway.
It’s one thing to build a couple of rudimentary models to convert static data locked up tight in reports into dynamic data, but what else are you going to do with it? The opportunities are endless. A good ERP system is nice, but a good ERP system paired with analysts who are skilled with Excel and Monarch… now we’re talking!
Further, as a manager, recognize that you need to allow your talented Monarch users to progress or you’ll risk their moving on from your firm just as quickly as Conan left NBC.
Be Consistent
The troubles started when NBC launched Leno’s new show in the 10 pm time slot. They should have predicted that they had only one and not two audiences for a talk show at that time of the day. The ratings, and the revenue dollars that follow ratings, suffered as each show had a cannibalizing negative impact on the other, which affected not just the network but perhaps more importantly, its affiliates.
Use Monarch to combine disparate information sources and repackage the data into any presentation you want, as long as you’re delivering that presentation consistently to your audience. If there’s a change in its once-familiar structure, help your audience by pointing it out and cite concrete examples when describing why this is better than what they were accustomed to, if they hadn’t been apprised of it somehow in advance.
And now, here’s Monarch!
Make a wise and informed decision to ensure a long and successful run with all of your information systems. The process of acquiring, packaging and converting data into actionable information shouldn’t turn into a messy and expensive fight. In fact, with a little extra effort, you can transform your data into a calling card of sorts for your outstanding skills that are as instantly recognizable as a celebrity host.
So stop working for your data, and make your data work for you. Tonight, choose to excel with Monarch.
