Great Analytics Is A Lot Like Vegetables
An Article You Really NEED To Read, But You Probably Don’t WANT To
I create great analytics for a living. I guess that makes me a carrot. Actually, given my skin tone — I am more of an onion. I do have a habit of making some people cry… wait, is an onion technically a vegetable? I think so…
Great analytics is beneficial to any person, any company. Odd thing is… so few of them want it. In that way (and a few others), it is a lot like vegetables. Like our leafy, often green friends, great analytics is healthy, good for you, and part of well balance business diet. Now, who wants some?
Not sexy enough for you? I suppose you want your analytics covered in creamy AI or machine learning? They are a bit like cheese or ranch dressing in this analysis. People seem willing to buy into them, even if they have none of the benefits of our mundane vegetables.
Maybe it would be easier if it came in an easy to take tablet or a great tasting bottle? Analytic software anyone? Yes I am implying that Analytics as a Service is a bit like taking supplements. Or point and click interfaces come packed with all that extra sugar that make vegetable juices and shakes, so popular.
No one seems to care that these formats are hardly proven in terms of their health benefits. They are also far more expensive. You would think that would discourage people! But sadly … no. Is it a matter of education? People seem to recognize the beneficial nature, but are happy to overlook the problems with their “prefered” methods of dealing with it.
To some degree, both vegetables and analytics are victims of a check the box mentality. This is a mindset that claims french fries and ketchup are good for you because they are vegetables. Or that the new SaaS your company just bought is great because it has built in BI and insights. I am not certain how people keep a straight face?
But finally, vegetables and analytics share one more common aspect. No one is completely certain how to define them. Are Tomatoes really a vegetable? Potatoes? Green beans? Is AI really analytics? What about BI? Both concepts are a bit complicated. It is not completely clear why. They seem to both be poorly defined or, broader still, used as catch-alls for anything remotely close.
In the end, we all know we should eat our vegetables. We all know that solid analytics is good for our business. But we don’t really WANT to do either of those, do we? So sadly, the world marshals on with watered down (or sugared up) alternatives. They may not actually deliver on any of the benefit. They may cost twice as much. But we find them much more palatable and they let us check a box. If only that were really enough for our long term health (or health of our business).
So seriously, try to eat more vegetables. Invest in better analytics. And thanks for reading!
