Every year, WAA surveys web analysts around the globe. In reviewing this year’s results, it struck me that our industry has evolved from the youthful childhood stage into the thrilling, but somewhat awkward, teenage years.

On the positive side, it doesn’t look like we’re having any problem getting money from Mom and Dad. In 2009, 40% of respondents said that getting funding would be their biggest challenge. This year, it didn’t even make the top ten concerns; only 15.5% said funding would be a challenge.

But, like a typical teenager, we don’t feel like anyone understands us, or listens to us. Respondents ranked their #2 challenge as “the perceived value of web analytics.” 31% of respondents said that their Executives lacked awareness of, and support for, web analytics.

Despite this, the hormones are raging and we’re ready to attack the problem. 70% of survey respondents said that ensuring business decisions are driven by analytics will be their top initiative this year.

This got me to wondering. How you would turn that goal – ensuring that business decisions are driven by analytics – into an initiative? To do so you’d need a deep understanding about how people and institutions make decisions.

That’s generally not the realm where data analysts thrive. We’re really good at reading numbers and analyzing how to optimize them. But, we’re not so good at reading people and knowing how to optimize their decision making. How many web analysts have you met that have formal training in psychology?

We’re constantly seeking ways to make the data more actionable, but I wonder if we should be more focused on making the analyst more influential.

Despite what traditional economists want us to believe, decision making is driven by emotional and cultural dynamics more so than rationality and cool-headed risk/reward analysis. So your data may be more action-packed than Pirates of the Caribbean, but if it’s not delivered in-tune with cultural dynamics of the group you are trying to influence; it’s never going to become the blockbuster you want it to be.

Toward that end, I’ll suggest a book to put on your summer reading list that sheds light on this topic: The Social Animal by David Brooks. You can read an excerpt of the book in this New Yorker article. It’s an entertaining read that unpacks a treasure trove of academic and business research on this topic.

And if you’re interested in seeing the results of the WAA Industry Survey, members can get the full results.