Family Data Science

Family Data Science

Data can help you
keep it in the lines.

It has been said that "what gets measured, gets managed," and data science/data analytics/data is all the rage in so much of the business sector today.  Whether for-profit, non-profit, public sector, you name it, the digital data era is here to stay.  There are countless software programs out there to help your business collect and harvest insights from a myriad of different sources and tell a plethora of stories from various indicators to predictive trends.  It begs the question: Do you leverage data science to help make your family more efficient and effective in how you live your best life?  

Study your data and
your big plan so you
can implement it.

When we work backwards from the catastrophic outcomes in the home - let's say divorce, estranged kids, failure to launch kids, etc - we can then use data to get in front of the common denominators or red flags.  Once we outline the red flags - out-of-touch family, screen addiction, lack of consequences, inefficient budgeting/scheduling, and so forth - we can figure out the measurements.  With modern apps and technology, you can use systems that may flag you before it becomes too late.  For example, leaving a little margin in your checking account or having a notification sent if the balance drops below a certain number can help prevent the money problems that become fights.  Making an "annual" budget helps skip the surprises of one-time things like insurance or taxs.  Putting an alarm for "leave the house" helps avoid the stress and frustration of being perpetually late.    

List out the keepers.

As we unpack the scheduling, for example, we had a family friend recently who had a "manic episode" after getting overcome by events (OBE).  The too-many-good-things...are still too many, caught up with their family.  In the fire service, we'll talk about the OBE phenomenon and how, as the Incident Commander (leader of the crisis situation), you can't get task-saturated and need to keep a strategic eye on the overall situation.  The conversations in our home during this season have really focused on re-evaluating all of our extracurricular activities, determining "why" we're doing them, if we can get to the "why" some other way, and then determining what stays and what goes.  

Only use the
invisible ink
sometimes.

We can plot out the "future" of some activities if we're stuck on a "why" beyond "I want to" or "because so-and-so is playing this year."  I hate to break it to you, but your kids...and ours...aren't going to play professional sports...and...that doesn't mean we shouldn't do kid athletics.  It does mean we should go into that level of commitment with our eyes open - evaluating the cost in terms of time, money, opportunity, and focusing the experience on the outcomes we're after - loss, teamwork, physical fitness, etc.  We've mentioned it before, but on a major disaster, each operational period (typically each evening), the team briefs the leadership on the marching orders plan for the next day.  At the end of it, with everything laid out - the plan, the what-if contingencies, the who's on first, and so forth - the team verbally commits with "I support the plan and accept the risk" and the boss concludes it with "I approve the plan."  This "all-in" knowing the cost is key.  When you take on a new activity or routine expense - have the conversation and understand where/why/how/when it fits in amongst everything else...and make sure it's worth it.  

For several years, the kids'
"cow" went to help with
data analysis. 

Similarly, for folks who are struggling financially, studying where your money is coming and going is an important first step in order to decide where it should be coming from/going to (this could apply to our time, too).  The data science component takes the mystery out of "more month than money" problems at your house.  You can use any system you'd like - paper ledger, spreadsheet, fancy app, etc.  We use a Google Sheets spreadsheet we put together that allows us to view all sorts of insights on how and where our money is going.  We've been doing a monthly review for close to 15 years, where we look at our budget vs actual, talk about upcoming expenses, and just generally check in with each other.  This routine check-in helps us stay on track with our yearly budget plan...and adjust course along the way.  Data analysis, in a certain way, can help be a set of roadsigns or mile markers on your planned journey.  They help you stay on course and/or alert you to exciting new adventurous detours that you can choose to follow.  

Sometimes it
takes some 
effort...but
it pays off.

As we get further into tech integration, freeware tools like Google's Looker Studio (similar to Microsoft BI...without the pricetag) can give you executive boardroom-level insights.  Part of our budgeting over the years has left us with a ledger of almost every transaction we've made (you could also likely download this from your card or bank statement).  Anyhow, with a little setup in the Studio, we've been able to see (for better or worse), just how many dollars we've spent at, say, Walmart.  We can look at when we spend by day, week, month, or season.  We can tease out the habit change that may be needed from $5 here and $5 there that all add up.  We can also forecast toward things like goals and bigger outcomes.  This is, admittedly, nerd level, but the point is...when we measure (and then analyze), we can either make a behavior change or double down on what's working (or not) with intentionality.  

Sometimes it gets messy...
you might need to pack a 
mad scientist water
apron.

For a project at a non-profit where we were struggling with inputs/outputs, we put together an "efficiency" study of sorts, where we had employees and volunteers "bill" (like a 15-minute lawyer increment sort of thing) to get a sense of how time was spent.  Over the course of a week, we harvested out insights that allowed us to make it a more rewarding and productive experience for everyone.  By taking our data, then comparing it to other best practices (time blocking, lumping tasks together, scheduling in things like follow-up/travel time, stand-up meetings, and such), we moved from sluggish to winning.  At home, perhaps a similar study for a week might tell you that a little prep time investment (meal planning, bulk meal cooking, batching errands, time blocking activities on the calendar), life becomes more full of the meaningful things and less of the OBE/mundane that steals your time and intentionality. 

If needed...climb
up your mile 
marker to see more.

As we wrap up, I'll leave with a bit of an interventionist's perspective.  For us, the Looker Studio budget data gave us an eye opener, similar to the Home Alone, "you spent $967 on room service?" where we realized the little stuff can add up bigger than we intend.  For a friend, she realized her triple-screening husband was consuming football (watching, playing, coaching, and fantasy footballing) far more than he was anything else.  After having him agree to the "work time study," when you see the numbers all rolled up, you realize that sometimes you're smack dab in the "too much of a good thing," and after the season passes, likely realize you'd change it if you could go back.  Good news...you can change it.  Better news...you can do it today.  Maybe best news...there are a plethora of tools out there in today's day and age to fully understand the whole picture...and live your best life.  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out a couple of things that you can measure so you can better manage (time, money, extracurriculars) and then commit to taking an action to better understand under the hood...and make changes if necessary.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) on what you've been doing...vs...what you say you should be doing.

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Time for Coffee