3 Reasons Why You Should Learn Data Techniques

02-Jan-2020
I worked for over 20 years on all kinds of data projects for a wide range of customers, whether it was data-entry applications for small aerospace companies to complex integrations for companies with thousands of staff. Sometimes, I would be asked to train some of the staff on how to do some basic data transformation stuff. Often it would be an engineer, or a billing clerk who would be overwhelmed by their task.

People I mentored in the past were shocked at how learning this ONE skill catapulted their career to the next level. Why?

1. Vision: You can see more than anyone else. Learning data techniques will give you the ability to connect data in ways other people can't, giving you (and your business) a competitive advantage.

2. Time: You can make decisions faster. Having accurate data connected in useful ways will help you to make decisions in a fraction of the time you are used to.

3. Confidence: When you create your own datasets, you have a much higher confidence that you know exactly what the data represents, where it came from, and how it was prepared. This creates accuracy.

In my experience in dozens of companies across many industries, professional people are hungry for these skills. Often, they pushed their core tools to the limit, but wonder why they can't go further, and why they constantly have to rely on others for more complicated tasks like extracting and massaging data. I have seen researchers and designers with Masters and PhD degrees struggle endlessly with these missing skills that are not taught properly, if at all.

So, how can professionals like engineers, accountants, researchers, or health practitioners learn data techniques? They need to take a practical, business-driven approach to data. Unlike IT-focused solutions, transforming data into real results uses a combination of readily availalble data tools, complemented with a specialized set of soft skills, and a foundational understanding of data architecture. Find out more about these techniques in my upcoming blog posts, and on YouTube.