Seeing the Forest AND the Trees

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do you will never cease to grow." -- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Are you a budding analyst?

If you can describe yourself as the powerful combination of data hacker, analyst, communicator, and advisor you probably are. Analyst need to be able to see both the big picture trends and the detailed numerical data. MIT grad Kay Aull put it like this "There's data everywhere. Have you ever said "Hmm, I wonder... and then lost hours of your life trying to kludge together an analysis? If so, you might be the right kind of weirdo for data science.

Analyst look at data, find trends & patterns, develop theories to explain those patterns, predict results of process and operational changes, develop analytics tools, design and build effective data visualizations, and synthesize insights/results that they then present.

A recent poll concluded that 60% of companies recognized the need to develop new analytical skills in their workers. When a company builds and continually reinforces a culture of analytical decisions a commitment to fact-based decision making transforms the business and improves its competitive advantage. Data literacy allows a company to transform big data into insights and business value. Business analyst are helpful, but companies need more than just a few people able to develop data models. Marketing, accounting and logistical teams need to develop their analytical skillset.