I ran a 5K race recently and so I have been thinking about my pre-race routine. I may not have a lucky rabbit’s foot but the morning of a race I have a ritual of sorts. I eat my usual breakfast and of course drink coffee. There are some things I just can’t do without! I wear the same clothes and sneakers for the race as I wore training. I will not do anything new or different.
This ritual keeps me from being distracted so that I can concentrate on the race. In this case, my ritual helps me. But in the office, rituals can be limiting. Always doing something the same way can get old and stale. A colleague asked me about identifying best customers. My first thought was an RFM or RAD segmentation because I was in the midst of a RAD segmentation. It would have been easy to stop there. However, I couldn’t stop until I also suggested clusters and CHAID. If she had let me, I would have added modeling and NPV. The trick is knowing when to stick with rituals and when to avoid them.