Twice weekly, I share proven strategies to help data scientists get noticed, promoted, and valued. No theory — just practical steps to transform your technical expertise into business impact and the freedom to call your own shots.
The Price of Getting Good
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A data scientist friend of mine once took a role in a team that never stopped complaining about their difficulties in recruiting technical staff. She had solid data skills, but not the specific organisational knowledge the role needed. Yet, she was willing to learn, and management seemed willing to train her. So, she asked for training. And she asked again. Her boss promised to show her “as soon as an easy project came up.” The work was too important for her to make any mistakes. In the meantime, she was assigned to R&D work. Two years later, she left that role, having never been shown how to log into the system. Her boss was still complaining about not having enough staff. My friend’s boss treated mistakes as a risk to be avoided, when the real risk was never letting her make them at all. Being bad at something is an inevitable part of learning and it’s the only way you can ever become good. It’s painful to live through, and even more painful to manage, but it’s the price you have to pay for expertise. When I was a manager, I applied this principle to my team. And after launching my data science business, I applied it to myself. Four and a half years later, people are now coming to me for advice. This is one of the many things I recently discussed with Taiwo Ash on his podcast, Breakfast and Launch. Check out the full episode HERE. Talk again soon, Dr Genevieve Hayes |
Data Science Impact Algorithm
Twice weekly, I share proven strategies to help data scientists get noticed, promoted, and valued. No theory — just practical steps to transform your technical expertise into business impact and the freedom to call your own shots.
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