Dr. Jim McClave: Innovation as the Origin

Dr. Jim McClave: Innovation as the Origin

Innovation is us. We don’t exist without innovation. 

Hi I’m Jim McClave, and I am founder and CEO of Infotech. 

Starting Something New 

The thing about Infotech that was innovative from the time that my partner and I founded the company is that we were the first to use  statistical and computerized techniques to detect bid rigging. 

Doing the innovation with the detection of bid rigging, it set the tone because no one else was doing it and we had very early successes using the tools. And so we happened to use it in the highway industry first, but since then we’ve used it in dozens, probably hundreds of industries in which there have been issues or problems. And so, I think just the fact that we were first into it into this area and developed the tools has allowed us to thrive. 

A Tried and True Methodology 

In the Consulting division we were doing the expert witness work on these cases developed by using our software tools. The cases we worked on early on and the methods we developed were truly innovative because we were finding patterns of collusion in bid rigging using not confessions, but in fact, data. Tom Rothrock and I strongly believed that you can’t make rigged bids look like competitive bids. And so, the innovative work in Consulting was putting that out there – the fact that we can take five years’ history of your bids and figure out whether you’re getting competition or not.

 A case that comes to mind where we had to really innovate was the first time that our software was tested in court. Most of the early cases settled before getting to court. One very major contractor who was being accused of bid rigging decided to take it to trial and tried very hard to get hold of our software. When the contractor couldn’t get hold of it, [they] fought tooth and nail in this case. And so we knew this was going to be the first opportunity to be able to explain that this software really works and try to convince a judge and jury doing that. 

And we went to trial, and again I could go on forever, but ultimately prevailed despite the other side putting up a big fight. 

Balancing Truth and Discovery

In doing the expert witness work that Consulting does, we’re almost forced to use standard methodology because if you take something new to court, the first attack will be, “Well, that isn’t even tested yet.”  So, the innovation in the Consulting work and expert witness work is: how do you apply those tools, those standard tools? Can you find innovative ways to do so?  

The way that we have pushed innovation in statistics and econometrics, which is well established, is not in developing new tools – we use those tools – but it’s the manner in which we use them and, in particular, the way we’ve learned to explain them to our clients, which are primarily attorneys and judges and jurors who haven’t been trained in the same area that we have.

And so, we use these sophisticated techniques, but then we keep it simple for them. We graphically depict them. We put it in a way that we can, that I can be a professor again and explain them. 

That’s what we try to do with our work. That’s where the innovation comes in.

How a Statistician Sets Goals: Dr. McClave’s 3 Principles

How a Statistician Sets Goals: Dr. McClave’s 3 Principles

I am a self-admitted goal-setting addict. My addiction began in my early thirties when I listened to the motivational tapes – yep, back then we listened to tapes on our car tape players – of Earl Nightingale.You become what you think about was Earl’s primary thesis and it resonated with me. So, I began to focus on what I thought about by following his advice to write down goals and review them regularly.

This time of year is especially important for my goal-setting addiction, since I formed the habit of formally revisiting and revising my goals on New Year’s Day or shortly thereafter in the tradition of establishing New Year’s resolutions. Three principles guide my goal-setting: 

  1. no more than five per year
  2. very specific but simply stated
  3. should be a combination of business and personal goals 

Some advise sharing goals with others, but for me they are usually my private guideposts. I revisit my goals on a regular basis throughout the year to assess progress, but in no case do I change them until the following year.

I have learned the hard way that some specific wording can backfire. For example, for many years I set the goal of “breaking par” in golf, my lifelong favorite avocation. My wording was something like: “My goal is to improve my chipping and putting this year, and to break par at least once.” Looking back, this wording implied that breaking par once would accomplish the goal. In 1992 I shot a 69, breaking par by three shots for the first and, so far, the only time. I have since then focused much more on carefully wording my goals. 

I have set numerous business goals for Infotech over the years, both cultural and monetary, and nearly all of them have been met or exceeded. Random chance? Perhaps, but as a statistician I think chance explanations are often a cop-out.

The pandemic certainly impacted some of my 2020 goals — some had to be put on hold, others re-doubled. For example, I had some travel goals for my wife and I this year that had to be pandemic-postponed. In contrast, I expanded both the time and frequency of my exercise goals. I also had a goal of working with Infotech Consulting President, and my daughter, Dr. Jamie McClave Baldwin to advance our Consulting business as she has taken the reins and will be advancing our business to the next level. I think the pandemic has actually resulted in our working with increased focus on building and strengthening our team, and as a result we are ahead of schedule on this goal. 

I look forward to establishing my 2021 goals in the light of our new reality. My first goal for 2021 is: I will get my COVID-19 vaccination at the earliest time at which it becomes available to me. I’m still working on the other four. I think goal-setting is especially important this year. In some sense the main goal for 2020 was just to get through the year safely, and to help our family, friends, and co-workers do the same. 

I believe 2021 is a time to look forward with hope and determination. My goals will reflect a determination to apply lessons learned from 2020 to make 2021 a better year in all respects. If you have never tried goal-setting, with 2020 finally behind us I suggest that 2021 offers an ideal time to start!

Goal Setting: A Way of Life

Goal Setting: A Way of Life

Dr. James McClave

I am a self-admitted goal-setting addict. My addiction began in my early thirties when I listened to the motivational tapes – yep, back then we listened to tapes on our car tape players – of Earl Nightingale. “You become what you think about” was Earl’s primary thesis, and it resonated with me. So, I began to focus on what I “thought about” by following his advice to write down goals and review them regularly.

This time of year is especially important for my goal-setting addiction, since I formed the habit of formally revisiting and revising my goals on New Years Day or shortly thereafter, in the tradition of establishing New Year’s resolutions. Several principles guide my goal-setting: no more than five per year, very specific but simply stated, and a combination of business and personal goals. Some advise sharing goals with others, but for me they are my private guideposts. I revisit my goals on a regular basis throughout the year to assess progress, but in no case do I change them until the following year.

I have learned the hard way that some specific wording can backfire. For example, for some years I set the goal of “breaking par” in golf, my lifelong favorite avocation. In 1992 that happened for the first time, and perhaps because of my having been so specific, for the only time to date! More importantly, I have set numerous business goals for Infotech Consulting over the years, both cultural and monetary, and nearly all of them have been met or exceeded. Random chance? Perhaps, but as a statistician, I think chance explanations are often a cop-out.

Pardon me, but I need to get busy on my 2019 goals.