Big Data is making you stupid
The hazards of approaching a discipline and skill as a product or technology.
Big Data is that technology buzzword that won’t go away. Despite what the purists might argue the phrase now encapsulates almost every action that a company with sizable data stores has with its data. Where it was once analytics and decision support, we now hear of big data and data science.
Words don’t matter. Industries change them more readily than their underwear. The flaw in big data thinking is that somewhere in this last iteration people started mistaking a discipline for a technology. Perhaps discipline feels too elite for you — lets call it a skill. Perhaps technology feels to vague — Big Data has become a product.
But you can’t readily turn a skill or discipline into a product or “technology in a box”.
People and organizations can’t approach skill development the same way they approach a technology. Skill implies mastery, technology implies application. Big Data isn’t a tool. It is a set of tools and without the proper training and discipline — it just won’t work.
We have all seen the movie montages where a character with no experience what so ever builds a car or a motor cycle with the help of a book (or these days some youtube video). First off, it is a movie. Secondly, it is a montage. This process is horribly lengthy and more often than not… fruitless. It only works well in the movies.
But wait, I learned to re-tile my floor online and it looks great! Good for you. Not the same. Are you ready to go re-tile the vatican now? I think not. Odds are it took you longer than it should, cost you more than it should, you cut a few corners, or you just got lucky.
What about the movie montages where people learn skills like dancing, karate, or playing an instrument? First off — movie. But yes, at least we are coming closer. Ever notice though that almost all of those montages include an expert or teacher. And with the exception of a hysterical Rick & Morty episode, they didn’t come out of a box.
But Big Data technology is designed to make it easy!
Yes, I’ve seen that fairy tale on Nickolodeon, too. The boy gets the high tech shoes and becomes the captain of the basketball team despite being 4'2. I mean seriously?! I thought we all recognized this was fiction.
Big Data is a discipline. Yes, I went back there. It requires years of dedication and training. There are no montages. There are no solutions in a box. Think of it like body building. You need to start small and build up. Big Data Technology then is the equivalent of steroids or creatine. Yes it can accelerate your progress, but it still requires intense training and adds plenty of additional risk.
What is the risk of big data?
Let’s start with a concept from the “small data” world — opportunity cost. While you are busy “investing” in your Nickolodeon-style get smart quick scheme, money is being wasted. Only, unlike the Ping Golf Clubs you just had to have, the ones collecting dust in the downstairs closet, you can’t resell Big Data on eBay. Trust me. Folks have tried.
Next up, frustration. If your five year old is struggling with math, you don’t sign them up for Vector Calculus at the nearest university. We don’t teach people to swim by throwing them in the ocean. All this unnecessary complication is just going to leave your company frustrated and jaded.
But worst of all, Big Data done wrong will make you stupid. Poor data, poor frameworks, poor execution, and poor preparation lead to a horrible decision making process. Your company will be focused on the wrong questions, make the wrong choices, and choose the wrong priorities. This is the definition of stupid — or close enough.
Once you realize that you wasted hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in an effort that only resulted in poor decisions and massive organizational frustration… it is only human to feel a bit stupid.
Most of us realize the silliness of the “super shoes”. We ignore the “get rich quick” schemes. We know fad diets will never work. So why do we fall for Big Data nonsense — does a get “smart quick scheme” make any sense?
Let me close with a piece of advise -
If you want your organization to be more data-driven, to be smarter — don’t invest in a technology, invest in a teacher.
Otherwise you are liable to be setting yourself up to look really stupid, really fast. And that is something you can believe in.
To hire great teachers:
