The CEO of Williams-Sonoma on Blending Instinct with Analysis

Thanks to its catalog heritage, the retailer was well positioned to collect and use data from customers and other sources. Now it has reorganized to take its analytics to a whole new level.|As I walk each day into the Williams-Sonoma headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront, I’m struck by the varied types of creativity on display. In one area designers are developing textiles, painting furniture, or spinning pottery. In another, brand and merchandise specialists are reviewing photography and revising catalog and website layouts according to projected sales. And in another, data analysts are at their computers, crunching numbers, building models, and analyzing reports.|If Williams-Sonoma has a “secret sauce,” it is these teams working together in remarkable alignment to develop and execute our strategic and tactical priorities. In my 19 years at the company and four years as CEO, I’ve found that the very best solutions arise from a willingness to blend art with science, ideas with data, and instinct with analysis.