Data, Noise and Doo-Doo: An interesting life-lesson from a conversation with a Data Analyst

It is amazing the things we can learn when we just talk with other people. Especially when they are smart people. It is even more interesting when others help you see something completely new, or see something you knew in a different and powerful way.

Enter Frank.

A Frank Talk

I was recently having a conversation with Frank. Frank is a data analytics expert and consultant. He and I were discussing some strategies for implementing a new course on business analytics he was developing for a college diploma program.

Data analytics is an emerging field with plenty of promise. And though it has broad applications, it requires a specialized skill set. The problem is that it is not always clear to the people interested in switching careers to this field what those skills are. Frank wanted to address this in his course.

I suggested he get the learners to source and compare job descriptions from different sources and industries and then extract the common themes. This way, they can isolate what the core competencies are that they should pay close attention to developing. In short, I was trying to sneak some TVF (The Vital Few) strategy into the course design, In case you are wondering what I mean by Vital few, I introduce the idea in this article.

Frank listened intently then smiled and said “I like it—I knew I wanted something like. It is what we call a signal-noise exercise”

My head tilted.“Tell me more”

“Well” he went on, “With a big pile of data, it is often difficult to parse out what is truly essential to the goal of the analysis and what is just, well, noise.”

“Hmmm…”

“It is like a radio signal, you know? What you want is the voice or the music, not all the static. What you are suggesting is that I help the learners clear the noise so they can focus on the crucial signal”

I nodded and smiled. Frank might have thought I taught him something. But it was he who taught me. He had just shared a very powerful metaphor for my TVF philosophy—separate the signal from the noise.

Satellites and (ahem) droppings

In his immensely enjoyable book—A Short History of Almost Everything—author Bill Bryson tells the story about how the tell-tale background radiation that scientists associate with the origins of the universe was thought to initially have been caused by bird poop on the now-iconic giant horn antenna first used to record it!

It was not until the bird poop was removed (along with other potential causes of noise) and the 2 suspected winged culprits humanely sequestered that we, as a species, got clarity on the signals we were receiving from billions of light-years away. You can read more about it in this Smithsonian Magazine article

The point? Sometimes, noise is from nice things. Other times, it is from kaka. Either way, the answer is to eliminate it.

So, let me leave you with this thought—regardless of source, always seek to eliminate the noise that clouds the important signals in your life.

Until the next article, be your best and do your best.