

The Effective Statistician - in association with PSI
Alexander Schacht and Benjamin Piske, biometricians, statisticians and leaders in the pharma industry
The podcast from statisticians for statisticians to have a bigger impact at work. This podcast is set up in association with PSI - Promoting Statistical Insight. This podcast helps you to grow your leadership skills, learn about ongoing discussions in the scientific community, build you knowledge about the health sector and be more efficient at work. This podcast helps statisticians at all levels with and without management experience. It is targeted towards the health, but lots of topics will be important for the wider data scientists community.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 26, 2018 • 48min
How to prepare for your year end review to stand out!
Click here to find the homepage of the episode!
Same procedure every year - the year end review as part of the performance management appears on your calendar. Are you worried about filling in forms? Do you feel like this is not adding value?
In this episode, we give you practical tips how to master the review like a pro.

Nov 19, 2018 • 33min
Why should statisticians care about leadership and developing their leadership skills?
Interview with Gary Sullivan
Click here to find the homepage of the episode.
We're launching a new leadership course next year and in this episode, we go into some key questions about statisticians and leadership.
We cover the following topics:
What is a good definition for leadership?Why should technical statisticians worry about developing leadership skills?What happens, if you have limitations in the leadership skills?What should the mindset of a statistical leader be?When should statisticians start thinking about developing their leadership skills?

Nov 12, 2018 • 54min
Getting access for patients to new medications in Germany
The biggest challenges in the HTA process and how to address them: Interview with Carsten Schwenke
Click here to visit the homepage of the episode!
Today, regulatory approval doesn't ensure anymore, that patients benefit from new therapies. As statisticians, we also need to ensure access and reimbursement for new treatments in the different markets around the world.
The process to gain this access and reimbursement in Germany comes with very specific challenges. Yet, due to the large impact of Germany on other countries via the complex reference pricing system and the size of the population of Germany, we must understand these topics.
Andreas Schwenke gathered experiences across therapeutic areas with many companies since the start of the new process in Germany. This makes him the most experienced and best connected statistician in the world for this topic.
By listening to this interview, you will
get an understanding of the importance of the HTA process in Germany,
learn about key processes and stakeholders to reach successful reimbursement,
get an overview about common challenges, and
learn when and how to address these issues.

Nov 5, 2018 • 35min
How to make the right portfolio decisions
Interview with Andreas Sashegyi
Click here to get to the homepage of the episode.
We're all making decisions to optimize our studies. Optimizing project plans across different studies presents further challenges. But how to increase the overall portfolio of a company given its limitations leads yet another set of challenges. Knowing how decisions are taken at this top level helps to understand the bigger picture and why this sometimes implies sub-optimal decisions on a study or compound level.
Another big learning from these complex interactions are the influencing skills needed to work with senior and diverse teams.
Only a few statisticians in the industry work in these areas and Andreas Sashegyi is of these.

Oct 29, 2018 • 23min
British Airways, CROs, Programmers – why you should start with Why
How Simon Sinek can help statisticians
Click here to get to the homepage of the episode!
You have probably heard about Simon Sinek and his golden circle. If not, have a look at his great TED talk.
In this episode we explain via a nice story with BA, what the impact of starting with why can be. We also cover how you can more effectively work together with CROs and Programmers as well as new team members.

Oct 22, 2018 • 50min
Being a supervisor – things you would love to have known before you became one … or that you should know if you want to
Interview with Simon Cleall
Click here to get to the homepage of this episode!
Becoming a supervisor changes things dramatically at work for you. It did for me and Simon helped me by openly providing deep insights into his years of a supervisor - especially his failures and dramtic moments.
In this episode, Simon shares his ups and downs for you to learn from. Leading statisticians of course have many commonalties with any other administrative leadership position. However, it also includes some specific problems.

Oct 15, 2018 • 45min
Getting things done, when timelines are tight
learnings from a self-experiment in deep work
Find the episode homepage here!
Everybody knows such situations: tight timelines, high expectations and many things to do!
But how can we work effectively in such situations. Many different productivity experts have written about this topic.
In this episode, I’m speaking about how to implement these approaches and also my personal learnings and challenges during a time, where I needed them.
I’m applying and discussing the following topics:
PrioritizationDelegationManaging expectations and communication channelsMusic as a productivity boosterMake productive breaksSetting up a effective systemsMethods against procrastinateManaging disturbancesSetting up your body for productivityMulti-taskingThe pomodoro methodMorning routineSilenceAffirmationVisualizationExercise“Reading”“Scribing”Habits to get into the deep work modeDeep Work by Cal NewportWorking from home
Some resources for productivity:
Beyond the to-do list podcastThis is your life podcast by Michael Hyatt In German: Einfach produktiv podcast with Ivan Blatter

Oct 8, 2018 • 44min
Why and how to invest in your leadership skills
Interview with of Gemma Hodgson and Margaret Jones
Find the episode homepage here!
Leadership skills for statisticians represents a common theme across many episodes of this podcast. As leadership consists of many different aspects, it is important to learn from other statisticians, that exhibit these skills.
In this episode, we talk with Gemma and Margaret, who have run successful leadership courses within PSI. We cover the following topics:
What are the core leadership skills that statistician need to be fluent in?
What are common mindset issues, that block statisticians from being more influential?
How can statisticians overcome these blocks?
Why it’s beneficial for statisticians to have a tailored course for them?
What courses are available from PSI?

Oct 1, 2018 • 31min
Tables are not the key deliverables!
Find the episode homepage here!
Are you still counting tables? Do you worry about having to many of them? Do you wonder how to get an overview across all the results?
In this episode, we will talk about this thoughts and we will explore, how tables fit into the bigger picture.
We will also discuss alternative ways to deal with results, which will:
save you time
decrease the costs
speed up the process
and increase the quality.
If you think, this sounds like magic, listen to this podcast episode.

Sep 24, 2018 • 52min
Why and how to present at the next PSI conference
Interview with Paul Terrill
Click here to find the homepage of the episode!
Do you think, you have nothing to add to a statistical conference? Are you afraid of sharing your achievements? Do you wonder, why you should put in the effort on top of your day-to-day job?
All these thoughts and questions will be addressed in this episode with Paul Terrill, the chair of the scientific committee of PSI.
Beyond the questions above, we will also talk about the logistics and practical tips on how to submit your abstract and to become a speaker at next years conference.


