The horror at the Mandalay Bay Resort will be with us forever. Although rampant destruction in core values of safety and personal freedom remains--we know how to gather, heal, and hope to do better. I recently returned from the Tableau Conference in Las Vegas. I didn't realize until twitter nudged me that our event was not only scheduled at the same venue but the "evening out" mid conference would have been at the exact location of the concert.
As a nation we are now flexing a new muscle. We get on with living. I have been in the wake of destruction and horrors before. Both man-made and derived from nature. Driving through Oklahoma and bearing witness to the ribbons and make-shift tokens of remembrance following the federal bombing in 1995, post 9/11 annihilation of downtown buildings, as well as the aftermath of hurricane Katrina--It is always surreal and humbling.
| Attending the yearly Tableau conference has been something I have done for the past 5 years. I would guesstimate it fuels my data brain for a full 12 months. No need to convince anyone about the importance of data in the 15,000 person crowd. Not just any data--the right data. I will share insights from large health systems, survey analysts, and granular panel discussions over the next few months or so. But I thought it would be timely to share a summary of data myths. Full disclosure. This post is late. I started writing a week ago but had to prepare to attend ISPOR/ISPE Summit on Real-World Evidence in Health Care Decision Making in DC. More on that to come as well... |  |
Data myths to cross off your list of excuses...inspired by keynote by Adam Selipsky CEO Tableau
AI will replace the analyst (don't forget algorithms contain biases} AI will assist, not replace. Read the Artificial Intelligence And Life in 2030: One hundred year study on Artificial Intelligence from Stanford.
"Human intelligence has no match in the biological and artificial worlds for sheer versatility, with the abilities “to reason, achieve goals, understand and generate language... create art and music, and even write histories.”
Data is only for analysts—Data is the world's most valuable resource--not oil. Forbes even went a step beyond-- Tableau is listed as the most in demand data skill.
I identify as a datapreneur for a reason. I prefer to be data agnostic. There are eddies of debates between data science, statisticians, software developers, computer programmers, coders, etc. It is a distraction for me and what I am interested in adding to the dialogue. This doesn't mean you can read an article and hang out your shingle for business but it does mean your path might not look like everyone else. Don't let that hold you back...
Data governance means “no”—No Data for You! It’s valuable. It’s the new oil. True data governance means secure enablement not restriction or impeded access.
Operate within reasonable parameters. Everything appears to be deserving of a catch phrase. The underground data economy is the latest trend and as far as I can tell it refers to data analysis happening without IT. Excel is already doing this so there is no need to panic!
There can be only one, perfect source of truth. We live in a world of many. It is important to be nimble and curious. These are the data types you can pull into your analyses. Smart. Accessible. Governed. Flexible. Go ahead. Be data people.
| BI platforms take away power from people. Using the right tools to answer your data questions can help people see and understand data. Often when I am asked a data question I think of types of data sources that contain similar information. It would be nice if data existed in a neat little package with a pretty bow but often it looks rough. We need to abide by good practices for real world data so it will be useful for decision making. There are many out there that consider real world data to be inferior to data captured in randomized controlled trials. Let's face it, to quote Deborah Zarin, MD from the NIH "they are both sausage making"--Its okay to trust but it is more important to verify. Data has to be curated to access insight. |  |
