Ep 152: Why Relying on Data Can Cause More Harm Than Good

Ep 152: Why Relying on Data Can Cause More Harm Than Good

Cathy O’Neil is a mathematician who has worked as a professor, hedge-fund analyst and data scientist. Cathy founded ORCAA, an algorithmic auditing company, and is the author of Weapons of Math Destruction.

Cathy says she was always a math nerd. She loves the beauty of mathematics, and says it is almost an art – the cleanliness of it. One of her favorite things is that math is the same no matter what country you go to. She also had had an interest in the business world, which led her from academia to work as a hedge fund quantitative analyst.

Big Data is both a technical and marketing term. The technical term depends on the technology you are using. Big data used to mean that it was more data than you could fit on your computer – now it means more that you can perform in a simple way – that it needs to be put it into another form before it can be used.

The marketing term, ‘big data’ is misleading. However, it represents the belief that you can collect data for one thing but then the same data can be used for another purpose. “It is a technology that allows us to collect seemly innocuous data and use it for another purpose.”

One profession in which O’Neil has at looked at the use of big data and algorithms in detail – and discusses in her book – is teaching and their evaluations. She says there were teacher evaluation algorithms originally designed to eliminate the achievement gap between ‘rich kids and poor kids’. Eventually, a new system was devised entitled, ‘value added teacher model’.

The idea of this new system intended to offset the previous way of looking at assessing teachers - where they solely looked at the teacher’s students’ final test scores.

The ‘value added score’ system holds teachers accountable for the difference between students’ final score and what they were expected to achieve/receive.

O’Neil says that this method ‘sounds good’ and seems to ‘make sense’. However, with only 25 (or so) students in one teacher’s classroom, there is not enough data. Additionally, both the expected and actual scores have a lot of uncertainty around each of them. So this final number ‘ends up not much better than a random number’. With that, there is not enough credible data to base important decisions such as terminating a teacher’s job.

One of O’Neil’s main points in today’s discussion is that every algorithm is subjective. Whether it is used to evaluate teachers, hire or fire employees in a financial organization - people should know that they have the right to ask the algorithm explained to them. The 14th Amendment provides them ‘due process’ to ask why they are terminated, not promoted, etc. - other than just alluding to a algorithm result.

What you will learn in this episode:

  • What is ‘weaponized math’?
  • How is the internet building a new kind of ‘class’?
  • What are the 2 definitions of ‘big data’?
  • The potential bias found in the use of algorithms in teacher evaluations, hiring practices, firing

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Ep.19: Overcoming the Skills Gap

Ep.19: Overcoming the Skills Gap

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Ep 20: Corporate Culture

Ep 20: Corporate Culture

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2 Feb 20151h 9min

Ep. 18: Turning the Ship Around

Ep. 18: Turning the Ship Around

How does a nuclear submarine captain take one of the lowest performing vessels and make them one of the top performing ones? David Marquet did just that and he explains how he did it in his new book, "Turn the Ship Around." In this episode of the podcast David shares some of the ideas and insights from his book where he provides a contrarian model for leadership in the coportate environment called "leader-leader." Learn how David empowers his team and creates leaders out of everyone!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

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Ep.17: The Quantified Workplace

Ep.17: The Quantified Workplace

Many people are already using technology to track things in their personal lives such as food they eat, steps they take, sleeping patterns, and much more. However, what if we took this same approach of the "quantified self" and applied it to creating the "quantified workplace?" That is, using data and technology to measure and track how we work. In this podcast I talk with Kris Duggan the CEO of BetterWorks that allows organizations to do just that but setting and measuring their goals and objectives. Is the quantified workplace the future of work or is it a bit too much? Listen to find out!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

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Ep.16: Playing to Win

Ep.16: Playing to Win

F5 Networks recently made it to "Glassdoor's prestigious list of the Top 50 Places to Work in America" and was ranked #4 out of the "large companies" category. This podcast has Staffing Director, Richard James offering an insider view of F5 Networks–the company, core values, the work culture, people, and much more. Tune in to learn why F5 Networks is one of the best places to work in America!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

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Ep. 15: How to Become a "Best Place to Work"

Ep. 15: How to Become a "Best Place to Work"

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} In an effort to provide company and job transparency, Glassdoor stands out to be a popular name for employees and employers alike. Vested with tons of valuable information, including company salaries, work culture, open positions, employee reviews, Glassdoor is certainly making a foray into redefining the future of work. With their newly released list of "Top 50 Places to Work" (featuring the top 50 SMBs and top 50 large companies to work for in America), David Staney and Lisa Holden offer a glimpse inside the company and what goes on behind putting together the list for "Best places to work." They also talk about their recent findings, lessons learned, and tips for companies who wish to make it to the prestigious list.   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

6 Jan 20151h 2min

Ep. 14: Generation Z

Ep. 14: Generation Z

Dan Keldsen is the author of the new book, The Gen Z Effect. In this episode of the podcast we explore who this new generation is and what their potential impact is going to be on the workplace. If you're thinking about how to adapt your organization to the future of work then Gen Z is definitely a group you need to pay attention to. Tune in to learn more!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

16 Dec 20141h 15min

Ep. 13: Wearables in the Workplace

Ep. 13: Wearables in the Workplace

Wearable devices are not only taking the consumer world by storm but they are also making their way inside of our organizations. To get a better sense of how wearable devices are impacting the future of work I spoke with the CTO of Accenture Paul Daugherty and Brent Blum who is the Wearable Technology Practice Lead. If you want to know what the future of wearable devices looks like then tune in!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

10 Dec 20141h 8min

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