Data Reading Club #8
Ivanna Jurkiv Ditlevsen
Manager, IT Development and Data Engineering | Novo Nordisk Engineering
???Is there such a thing as one version of the truth?
I think that in the realm of data, some of us want to believe that there is. A single true monthly sales amount, a single correct number of stock outs and so forth.?
It’s a beautiful idea????
And yet, the longer I work as a data engineer, the more I am leaning more and more towards a conclusion that the idea of a single version of truth is a myth.???
?And this is what the article talks about.?
???
If you are absolutely shocked by my answer, below are my own thoughts on this fascinating topic???
??Let's start off by agreeing that we all want data that we can trust and data that can give us the same answer.
?Isn’t that so simple to achieve??
??The answer is no.
It’s kind of the same as in life.?There cannot be single version of truth because truth depends on who you ask ???
?? Same events and experiences are recalled differently because our our perception of what happened is influenced by so many external factors.?
?The same applies in the realm of data.?
??The answer to how much we sold this month will vary depending on who in the organization you ask and their way of defining and calculating sales.?
???? What can be done then, you ask??
More focus on transparency and governance.?
I believe that it is 'OK' to have different versions of the truth as long as there is an understanding of why there is such a difference and transparency as to how such truth was derived.?
Thoughts?????
??
#datareadingclub?series is a weekly LinkedIn newsletter aimed at sharing a short list of thought-provoking material that I came across that week. The list is not limited to reading material, but also includes podcasts, video clips etc.
?
Senior Manager @ EY | Information Management, Data Governance & Strategy | MSc & MBA
1 年Thanks Ivanna Jurkiv Ditlevsen for surfacing this interesting topic! I think there are different layers we can dive into. One is the business definition of e.g.: Sales. Is it a sale if the customer has agreed to purchase a product, right to use, service or is it when the contract is "signed", when the product, right to use, service is "delivered", the funds are recorded in the suppliers books, ...? Unless the business agrees on a definition you will by default have a multitude of Point of views. Another one is the systemic/data layer which might have a lot of different root causes as well like from which system the record is taken, when it was taken, ... And there might be more... Great and very important sentence you use for closing: "I believe that it is 'OK' to have different versions of the truth as long as there is an understanding of why there is such a difference and transparency as to how such truth was derived."
Senior Managing Director
1 年Ivanna Jurkiv Ditlevsen Very well-written & thought-provoking.