Why data scientists feel stuck

There are three major reasons why data scientists feel stuck.

1. Lack of discussion about the problem statement in detail.
2. Lack of participation in the design of experiments to explore the solution.
3. Lack of visibility of the impact of the work.

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Definition of being stuck

1. You know there is a point where you like to be at.
2. You know that the point above is not where you are at now.
3. All the paths that you tried to get to that point did not work.

What I did to "feel" unstuck

1. Connected with fellow data scientists to understand the various problems that they are solving. The conversation in and of itself about the problem had a therapeutic impact on me and calmed my mind.
2. Solved other data scientist's programmatic problems (both at office and on Stackoverflow ). The experimental approach to a problem without any consequence in and of itself gave me a sense of being useful.
3. Authored and maintained an open source R package and saw how there were around 350 - 500 people installing it every month and benefitting from it. I saw that I had an impact and it made me feel unstuck.

Try these on your data science team so they "feel" unstuck

Remember, I do not speak from my experience on this and therefore, its not my observation but rather a hypothesis of what could work for your team. Not everyone is like me.

1. Have a monthly group discussion on a select few problems of what other data scientists are working on. Remember to only discuss the problem and not the solution. The outcome is a group therapy session. There is no actionable insight. This meeting is the action from the insights that you are reading right now.
2. Have a 2-day hackathon once a year. Let the team choose their own imaginary problem and solve it. Remember to let the idea be chosen by the teams. The outcome is the struggle and failure to achieve something great. This is like a massage to their minds, don't mix it with measurable outcomes.
3. Bring someone from the business to speak about the outcomes of data scientists and how it helped them. Even if it helped them a wee bit, its ok. A person saying that their work helped them makes a data scientist more happy than any award. Remember, most of our outcomes cannot be "seen" like a website or an app. We talk about AI but we are just as clueless about what's in store for us.

Feeling unstuck vs being unstuck

All the above points are like paracetamol to your situation. As the effect wears off, you will have to get back to doing it all over again.

These things helped me "feel" unstuck for a while. I am still discovering how to completely feel unstuck.

I currently believe, that we all need a perspective different from our own. I am offering my perspective on my next LinkedIn session. Please come by and let me know your perspective.

Please register for the event and help me get more ideas to finally get unstuck.