# The Calm before the Storm By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2022-11-24 Some storms are unpredictable. They occur suddenly and without warning. Other storms announce themselves with just enough time for one to shelter in place. Still, others provide ample warning, and one can prepare. Each type of storm provides what retrospectively can be viewed as a time of calm before it. Those periods of calm are significantly different and afford different opportunities. Analytics contributes to the efficacy of preparation for our literal and metaphoric storms. In terms of weather, organizations and family patterns emerge. One predictable “storm” is the holiday season which is now upon us. This is predictable; it happens every year. This example helps to highlight how analysis is more than number-crunching. It is possible to approach the holiday season analytically and make use of the calm before the storm. Part of the analytic assessment of the holiday season is to determine _who_ is involved this year. Certain people have the capacity to fundamentally alter the group dynamic. Knowing who will be attending a set of events can help one prepare for the type of storm approaching. Another focus of analysis is oneself. Understanding the degree to which one can engage in the storm is constructive, as well as approaches one can use to buffer oneself in the process. There is no number crunching in these types of analyses. They are so instinctive that one might not view them as analysis at all. Nonetheless, analysis contributes to one’s ability to predict, prepare, and respond.  The happy storm of the holiday season is now upon us. Even within the storm, there are respites of calm. Some are coincidental, some are set in the calendar, and some are strategically created by analytic introverts. Whatever storms and calms you experience here is to the hope that thinking and understanding contribute meaningfully to the experience. #### Related Items [[Analytics]] [[Predictive Analytics]] [[Number Crunching]] [[Problem Solving]] [[Thinking]]