If you were recently put in charge of a data team and your first thought are wondering what shiny new data infrastructure tools and solutions will you get to use. You’re headed in the wrong direction. Don’t get me wrong, we all love shiny toys. But they can also be a distraction to what the business needs. Sometimes, it’s the businesses themselves that distract us and use the terms they’ve heard or read about and demand that we deliver possible solutions that aren’t needed or that the business is not ready for. I do believe part of the data team's role is to help consult in these situations. Don’t just be a task taker, be a strategic player. If you want to be part of a strategy, you have to act on it. To be clear, you’ll still face businesses and CEOs that will continue to treat you like a task taker. Sometimes this can be fixed by taking ownership and leading with limited power, and other times you’ll be trusted right away. Wherever you are on that spectrum, I believe Joe Reis 🤓 Reis once put it that you only have so many strikes. You only have so many chances until you’re relegated to task taker no matter what you do or else your team is fired and replaced. In order to have your data team taken seriously, you need to know a lot more than just read Kimball or DDIA. Let’s talk about how you can be taken seriously and seen more as a trusted partner, you can read the article here - https://lnkd.in/gaBckwui
Ángel Narciso
1mo
The issue isn't being a task taker, but the role you acquire regarding that task. Because when it comes to build a house, it's not the same being the architect, that the brickman. And unfortunately, most times we're the latter, although we're qualified to be the former. And that's why data sucks.
Jeff Nemecek
1mo
So true. So many good tools and technologies out there. Always another nifty bauble or cure-all. The hard part is developing the culture, the discipline, and the focus to deliver with whatever toolset you use.
Strategic player, not task taker 🔥. Well said Ben
Andres Vourakis
1mo
This is so on point with my experience!
Yordan Ivanov 📈
1mo
Many of us get into tech because we believe it's all about new, shiny stuff. Some even believe all they will do is go output code and not need to deal with people. Tech, and especially data, require a ton of human interaction. It's all about solving real-world problems. --- Now, how do you escape from being seen as a task-taker? In my experience, it's all about trust. You need time to prove you know your stuff. People only listen to professionals they trust. And trust is earned, not given by right. I hope that brain dump makes sense.
Taher Vali
1mo
Benjamin Rogojan Strongly agree about "you only have so many strikes". There is an Indian comedian and writer zakir khan who said something very similar. "when you see someone else have the opportunity/access( In our case today access to GPU's) you think you would kill it, if you had it too. But when you have it, you have to create monetary value at the end of the day its what makes the world go round".
Satya Nayak
1mo
Strategic player, not task taker. Very well said. This line resonates me well in my experience. But many times when we know business has the problem with data and we know there is a solution out there, we need to strategise it instead of playing safe till eternity. The tools may be shiny or may not be, but if it solves the issue need to be considered seriously. Thanks Benjamin Rogojan for putting it here, I have lived this I think most of us have.
Nefi Bernal
1mo
Recently I've heard so many leaders say that they just came back from a conference and need to implement AI and ML, without having an understanding for what does AI and ML actually do. They think it will be a plug and play fully automated intelligence that will solve all problems 😆🤖
Can't agree more! I wrote something similar earlier today actually (and why we should "Start With Why", thank you Mr Sinek, and not with tools). Funnily enough, I nearly used that same meme template, but couldn't find good messages to write in the bubbles! 😅 Go check it out if you want : https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rahollinger_gartner-fractional-cdo-activity-7219922196343738369-oY3R
Senior SQL Server DBA & Developer at Emergent Software
1moI'm not in charge of any data team, but your advice really resonates with me. I believe it is important to focus on the problem at hand, instead of a solution to problems that you aren't experiencing. This helps me stay on track, and prevents me from forcing a tool to do something it isn't meant to. As one of my mentors once put it "When you have a hammer, everything looks like nail"