Someone posted that business is about people. Which is true. Know what else is about people, data.

Data has and always will be about people. This is where the data and analytics community went off the rails when they started focusing on models and algorithms and forgot the people aspect.

Why? Models and algorithms are easy in comparison. I see this all the time, they hire someone technical who can build the model and wrangle the data, that get stuff done mentality is what is going on. But you need someone who knows people and why and what you need to get done.

Why is there an over 80% failure rate for data and digital teams? Wrong focus, wrong skills, and wrong actions. When you build models without the people aspect, it’s like going to casino. Sure, you might win but the odds are against you.

Focusing on and understanding people and then doing the right action is a lot harder than focusing on models and algorithms. But want to know a secret to building billion-dollar data and digital products? I focused on people. I have built 3 such products over the years and they all had the same formula.

The focus on people to make data work is something 95% of teams don’t get, or leaders. My last role, I did a project focused on people, it was a big success with customers. However, leadership wasn’t impressed, because we didn’t focus on models and algorithms, we focused on addressing real customer needs. There is a love of models and algorithms which I get, they look cool. However, like I said, if you want to have real wins, the focus on people is the way to go.

This attitude is why I rarely go to data conferences anymore. The focus on people and how you solve those problems is just lacking. It’s normally just a tool fest where people talk about what tool they love the most.

If you focus on people in the data space, it will be harder, but it will be more rewarding and easier to navigate the waters in hard times than the model and algorithm thinking.