The Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Mastering Data and Analytics

Mastering data and analytics can be a daunting task for any business, whether you've been performing data management or doing reporting for years, or even just starting out. That's where the crawl, walk, run approach comes in. This approach breaks down the process to achieving success into three simple steps. Again, if you've read anything I've written before, this goes back to the idea of starting small. This is a great way to start and not overwhelm both yourself or your customers, whether they are internal or external.

In the crawl phase, you focus on learning the basics of data and analytics. This includes learning about the most basic, yet most important data practices: how to collect data, how to store data, and how to analyze data. All steps in the data and analytics lifecycle are important, but if you don't do these steps properly, you'll never achieve success and move to the next level. This part also includes really focusing on your own or your team's skills. Do you have the right internal skills to do the job at hand? Do you need to bring in expert help to learn a little quicker? The crawl phase could also be more of a figuring out phase. Master the basics before you try to move on from here. Practice makes perfect.

In the walk phase, you really start to apply what you've learned in the crawl phase. You will start to refactor and add capabilities based on what you've already built. You might start by building more advanced data models or analyzing bigger datasets. Or you may have mastered the concept of data management and implemented a data governance program. There are many opportunities to use this methodology, and these are a few examples of many. There is no rush to get to this phase though. Putting together a host of capabilities takes time, so again, don't rush into the walk phase because "you think you have a good grasp on what needs to happen." Once you've found successes to celebrate in your crawl phase and show that you or your team is ready for the next level, then you can take that next step.

In the run phase, you're ready to put your skills to the test. You might start by working on more complex data projects or start to introduce advanced analytics capabilities, such as prescriptive analytics. Or maybe your company is in a position to start to monetize your data, so you start to build out the framework for how this would work. This is often where what you've built becomes a well-oiled machine and runs with minimal errors, allowing you to layer in more capabilities. The run phase can really encompass anything, it's not just for specific skills or software products. This is the phase where you really start to flaunt your capabilities to the organization. If you start to become too arrogant though, this will become noticeable. Be humble about how you introduce what you or your team are capable of. This will keep the notion alive that you or your team are enjoyable to work with.

One last word of advice. Always collect feedback in each phase of the crawl, walk, run approach. Once you've completed a project or initiative, get feedback from someone who is knowledgeable with data and analytics or even someone that you've provided your services to. This will help you identify areas where you can improve and gradually move to the next phase of the approach. Never stop improving your skills or capabilities as this will prove the worth of data and analytics to the organization.

Data and analytics may seem to be a complex creature, but it doesn't have to be. If you try to bite off more than you can chew in the beginning, you'll set yourself up for failure. Start small. Start by mastering the foundational concepts and move from there. If you really want the right framework to use, choose the crawl, walk, run approach to set yourself up for success with data and analytics.

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