Great data analysis is like great art, it tells a long, lasting, unexpected story to those who view it

I love the data side of the business world. Good data analysis is a lot like good art:

• It’s created by an individual with the goal of telling a story
• It’s built on both experience and a few hunches along the way
• There’s usually a novel element that provides unexpected suspense
• Someone walking up to it cold can take something away without directly knowing the artist’s intent
• Both have the following groups: go out in a flame of glory, industrialists who do the basics well, an inspired few that have long careers, amateurs who try but don’t really have a great talent

I often get strange stares when I make this data analysis to art comparison. Unless you really live the data world (or have been around great data analysts), it’s hard to appreciate. Most groups don’t have great analysts. Most people go their entire careers without working with someone that raises the standards.

Like artists, data analysts tell stories through their medium. It’s very hard to tell a long and lasting story in a single static image, yet the best artists make it seem simple. Similarly, it is very hard to tell a story that drives action through the use of data (numbers, tables, charts, graphs in all their many various forms).

Most data analysis is about taking a fact and then cherry-picking it to support an argument. The decision is already known, so let’s make sure the data supports it. The best data analysis allows the numbers to lead you down an unexpected path where the answer wasn’t even originally considered. Usually, it will even point to problems that hadn’t been previously understood.

I can hear the retort now, “So what?” If you’ve gone your whole career without a great data analyst, why do you need one now? To that, I point to the great book Moneyball by Michael Lewis. If you don’t look to push for something better, your competitors will. If you leave untapped opportunities unexplored, your competitors will explore them at their leisure. If you aren’t looking in the right places, unexpected problems will pop up and derail your current plans. Maybe it all works out, but what did you leave on the table because you weren’t willing to push?