It's All Data

Recently, I had an opportunity to review my education and career path.

My journey has taken some interesting turns along the way, which I attribute mostly to not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. Now I know that growing up IS the journey, not the destination, and I'm far more concerned with who I am being than what I am doing.

Having said that, it occurred to me that all the things I've learned and all the things I've done have had an element of data analysis built in. It's all data!

For instance, I am educated as a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor. In retrospect, I see that when I am talking with a client about their situation, that's data collection! I'm collecting pieces of data about their personality, their family, their perspective, their concerns. I'm looking for the hidden data points that they might not be seeing. I'm taking all of that data, consolidating it, creating a story with it, and presenting it back to the client. I'm giving them they possibility of seeing their own data (their life) in a new way. It's all data!

I spent a good amount of time working with children as a preschool teacher, a camp counselor, a church volunteer, and currently as an assistant karate instructor. Guess what? It's all data!

Yes, that's data too. What works? What doesn't? What do I need to do differently with one child or another? Are they having fun? Are they upset about something? I'm constantly collecting data from their words, mannerisms, demeanor, and analyzing it. I'm doing continuous A/B testing to see what has the most positive impact on the child.

I'm also a musician. It's all data! I'm collecting data through my ears and evaluating it. What is the pianist doing? Can I compliment that? Am I in tune? Does this song work?

I think if you take a quick look at your life, you'll also find that it's all data.

It's amusing to me, because for the longest time I didn't really like data. At least that's what I thought. I have a former co-worker who has heard me on more than one occasion say "I hate numbers!"

I can laugh about it now, because like I said, IT'S ALL DATA! 

I'm actually constantly living by numbers and other pieces of data that help me make better choices.

Data and I are back on speaking terms. Which is a good thing, because it's all data!