Boring? - Is data analytics really the most boring job in the world?

Lately there have been a lot of emotions around an article from Business Insider by Stephen Jones in the analytics community since it carries the depressing headline “The most boring person in the world works in data analytics, likes watching TV, and lives in a town, scientists say”.?

And we are talking serious science since the article references a study from the combined brains of the University of Essex, University of Limerick and London School of Economics.?

A lot of us had our attention caught, feeling hurt and not least felt the urge to comment on it.

We had to raise our firsts to the sky and cried out at the injustice in an unified choir

“The most boring person in the world

does NOT work in data analytics”

Yours truly included, but also cool people like Adrian Kingwell, Jim Sterne, Luka Nikolic, Daragh O Brien and many many many more.?

And we did what we do best, found all the places where the shit didn’t stick, the rubber didn’t meet the road and questioned the core of the entire study.

• The data - Based on only a data set of 500 it can hardly be said to be representative of the population of the world.
• The analysis - Putting “data entry workers” into a category called “data analytics” didn’t really make any sense.?

And as we as professionals all know so well,? they are all wrong, so questioning them is fine and what we should be doing as analysts. That is basically our job description.?

So things we seem to be able to agree on is that the journalist is ignorant, the data is insufficient and the analysis is lacking… We are basically misunderstood.?

So Stephen Jones, on behalf of the united global data analytics industry

- go suck an egg.?

And that will hopefully teach him not to mess with a data analyst.?

But…

Why such a range of emotional responses? The last time I saw such a united analytics front was… wait… I have never seen such a united front before.?

So what the heck is going on?

…Maybe there are still elements where we all might need to stop and take a deep breath and a long good look in the mirror.?

Because there is something we can actually learn from the study.?

there is something we can actually

learn from the study

Well first of the study is only about perception - and especially the general non-industry perception. And from that perspective there is a problem. Problem number 1, that people outside the industry do not seem to separate data entry from data analysis or even data science.?

So when we don’t distinguish whether “Bob from accounting” actually works in auditing, accounting information systems, financial, managerial, cost, tax, forensic or public accounting why the heck should he care about the finer points of analytics??

From the outside world it seems anybody working with data is boring, even a Brent Dykes, an Avinash Kahushik and potentially even a Cassie Kozykov.?

So let’s not "go management" on poor Stephen Jones here and kill the messenger.?

Instead we should focus on that it is up to us to change it.?

Could part of the problem be that we talk too much about the data and too little about the relevance of that data for other people. That most people outside the industry actually have no idea what we do because we focus too much on getting the data right and not enough on making the value show??

Even for a lot of people in the industry, digital analytics did not turn into the super sexy job of long drinks, rock stars analysis, key notes and global business fame. It ended with a meh, in a job that is 70 % fixing data gathering and cleaning up messes, 20 % dashboarding and 30 % meetings about the two previous squeezed into the mix.?

It certainly does not add up.?

And honestly kind of sounds dull, right??

Would you like to spend a day with “Jenny from the insurance company” telling you about how she has important meetings about dashboards which are critical for how to track trends in pricing for the insurance of your neighbor's horse??

how to track trends in pricing for the insurance of your neighbor's horse?

What do you mean “not really”??

Sadly the same goes for us. To the un-initiated our dashboards and insights hold the same level of relevance and excitement.?

So the difference between the job it could be and the job it is??

How do we become less boring in the eyes of the “general public”?

Well if we look at the other end of the list the perceived least boring professions. actors, musicians, journalists, doctors, teachers and even scientists one thing could be that people have an idea of what they do… and since people can mistake data entry for data analysis it is pretty clear the same can not be said for us.?

So one part of the solution could be we need to stop talking data and start talking in a language which makes sense to other people.??

Like Avinash, Brent and Cassie.??

Well not all the time.?

They don’t either.?

But at least when we are among “ordinary people”.?

Okay, I feel the question….?

Steen, please… Do we really need to go there??

Well Stephen is actually neither alone, nor the first to link to the study.?

Try Googling “most boring person in the world” and see.?

There are literally hundred(s) of news media sites (didn't bother to actually count them), who refer to the study ranging from the News Of India to WebMD.?

The reputation of Data Analytics as boring is being evangelized by the mass media as you read this, even if we don’t agree.

So the question remains, do you care enough to do something about it or do we just say we work in “marketing science” from now on?

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You can read the full article from Stephen Jones here

https://www.businessinsider.com/boring-jobs-hobbies-profession-personal-traits-scientists-study-2022-3?r=US&IR=T?

Or dive into the actual study here

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01461672221079104