Here’s a classic story which you have probably seen but which I believe serves to illustrate, tongue firmly in cheek, the importance of business intelligence in any business.
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.
When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.
Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’
‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,’ she replies.
‘Great,’ the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’
So what has this got to do with a business intelligence blog? Well it just goes to show that you have to be able to share critical information pertaining to finances, credit and risk with all your stakeholders, because this in turn prevents unwanted exposure.
