In order to be a great data science leader, I need to be a great data scientist.
Frank Corrigan
Making Decision Intelligence for Supply Chain | Economics and Finance MA
In order to be a great data science leader, I need to be a great data scientist. To whatever degree this is true, I think it tears at many ‘IC data scientist turned leaders’. I do want to believe that constantly doing data science as a leader helps me to have better conversations with my teams (Vasi Philomin of AWS says this well on this TWIML podcast episode). But when it comes to that leadership component, there’s a theme that comes up over and over again: find the right people and create ways to set them free.
In BrainFood this morning: It turns out that [individual] ownership dramatically increases the odds of success.
In No Rules Rules: ?The more people are given control over their own projects, the more ownership they feel, and the more motivated they are to do their best work.
In Good to Great: What do the right people want more than almost anything else? They want to be part of a winning team. They want to contribute to producing visible, tangible results. They want to feel the excitement of being involved in something that just flat-out works.
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From Steve Jobs: We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.
In Time to Think: People shine not in the glow of your charisma. They shine in the light of your attention for them. They shine when you remind them that they matter.
When I worked with Scott Fremont at Target, he believed that the SD level (100+ people leaders) was all about getting things done through others. That takes time. The satisfaction of finding the best fitting-curve or the magical feature to improve model precision comes every day as a data scientist. But the satisfaction of creating a great team or achieving a mission, like blowing away revenue or cost targets, takes time. As a leader, I want to believe I can have both with no trade-off necessary. ?? Nope. There’s no free lunch. Every minute I spend writing code is a minute I’m not devising ways to find the right people and set them free. We have an optimization problem (which is different for every leader in every leadership position).
So, here's my advice to my future self. Be aware of the trade-off and keep looking for that perfect balance.
Data & Bio Professional | Startup-Minded | Turning Ideas into Impact
2 年One of my favorite newsletters (and podcasts)
Data Science, AI/ML Research @ Medallia
2 年While it is an optimization problem, I think the weight should be placed on the people management aspect of the job. Just yesterday I spoke with someone who's now leading a team of engineers, and we talked about things that help develop Team's trust in your judgement as a manager: deep technical skill and product knowledge is an important asset but so is the ability to delegate and leverage your team's skills to build momentum in the direction of the vision you set for them. And I agree with the author of 'Radical Candor' who claims that in the leadership position people should come first, "Every time I feel I have something more “important” to do than listen to people, I remember Leslie’s words: It is your job!”
Director of Data Science at Arrowhead Programs
2 年Great thoughts as usual Frank! It can be tricky to know when to put on that IC hat on, and recognize when you need to take it off, as a leader.
Partner and Chief Data Scientist at Athenian Capital
2 年Great post, Frank Corrigan