The Delight of Data Insight

You know that moment when you uncover something refreshingly new in data?

It is that “wow” or “aha!” when the obvious emerges from confusion, when a messy world gives way to clarity.

These moments are not dissimilar from the flashes of insight we enjoy from stand-up comics. Check out the following short video from Bill Burr on the Conan show. In about two minutes, he drops (by my count) six comic insights that reframe how you might think about Lance Armstrong.

These delightful moments of data insight are the sweet reward in the analytics world. Whether you are a researcher, consultant, data analyst, or part-time Excel jockey, there is joy in finding something that everyone else has missed, or seeing a way to break down long-held assumptions with a new way of looking at a situation.

This is an important part of the ‘The Last Mile of Data’. For years, we’ve focused on visualizing data, creating focused, actionable data products, teaching data fluency skills, and telling data stories. But capturing, sharing, and curating data insights is the last (perhaps latest?) step in bridging the gap between data analysis and the minds of decision-makers.

Those data nuggets need to be communicated and shared in a way that your audience will latch on to them. In the video above, Bill Burr seems like he is just riffing on an idea. It is hardly so simple. He works hard on his act — from the phrasing to the segues to the facial expressions — to encapsulate the insight in an easy-to-swallow lozenge that makes the medicine taste good. The listener is willing to re-consider preconceptions because of the packaging.

This is why the role of the data analyst is challenging far beyond the need to manipulating data. You are a sociologist, salesperson, psychologist, product manager, and now…stand-up comic.

Comics are weavers of a thread that connects what we think the world is to what it actually is.

The Last Mile of Data is about going the extra step that will carry your hard work to the point of action. Creating reports and dashboards that show data paves the path to insights. There is real satisfaction in the engineering of a well-crafted dashboard. You’ve created a kind-of data playground that may spawn insights.

But don’t stop before you get to the good stuff — the delight of data insight.