Bridging the Gap Between the Business and Data

I recently had an enlightening conversation with a new friend, Zoë Zeiders, who has had a successful career in project & program management while heavily leveraging data to make decisions and move work forward.

The goal was to hear her perspective, then enhance the community that I built so that data-adjacent professionals could learn how to work better with analytics professionals, and vice versa. This naturally led to a more meta conversation about analysts, data scientists, engineers and their stakeholders.

I thought it would be helpful to unpack some of her insights here as well as some of my own experience and research on these issues, and propose some potential solutions.

The Core Problem

Communication gaps or lack of data literacy can prevent stakeholders from clearly expressing their needs to analysts (or the broader analytics team).

On the other hand, analysts may struggle to convey complex data findings in a business-actionable way.

This disconnect leads to technically sound reports but are too noisy, miss the actual objective, and ultimately end up in the dashboard graveyard because they fail to drive stakeholder decisions and business value.

Start by Improving Communication and Collaboration

Gathering Requirements

If you want to be a successful analyst, you must deliver on requests for analyses and find the insights that drive decision making or solve problems. In order to do that accurately, you must understand the problem the business is facing.

During the requirements gathering phase of the analytics workflow, don’t be afraid to stop the conversation and ask the opposite party for clarity. A 2-minute discussion to clarify and provide context can save hours of wasted time later. Repeat their responses, as you understand them, to confirm clarity as needed.

“Why” & “What” Questions Will Help You Understand the Problem:

• Ask questions that start with “why” e.g. “Why is it important for the business to solve this problem, and why now?”

• After answering “why” questions, move to “what” questions e.g. “What 3 metrics will you need to make this decision effectively” and “What decisions do you anticipate making based on the insights derived from this analysis?”

Only after addressing the “why” and “what” can you effectively go after the “how”.

Effective Data Storytelling

The main objective of data storytelling is to convert raw data into clear, engaging narratives that drive both understanding and decisive action. This process starts with defining your specific goals and thoroughly understanding your stakeholders’ challenges.

Once you have gathered your requirements and performed your analysis to unearth the required insights, craft a compelling narrative. This should include a clear plot, essential context, and a distinct call to action, using appropriate and consistent visualizations to enhance your message.

It's vital to present data with objectivity and transparency, integrate subject matter expertise for context, simplify complexity using plain language, and incorporate interactivity where possible.

Being crystal clear on your core message cannot be overstated. Going back to my conversation with Zoe, she said to me that she would sometimes just title a page in a report with exactly what insight she wants the stakeholder to leave with.

For example, “Sales are down 2% quarter-over-quarter.” Even if the chart makes this clear as day, this ensures the key message is front and center.

Building Reports that Don’t End Up in the Graveyard

Mastering Business Intelligence (BI) Requirements Engineering

You asked the important "why" and "what" questions during your initial requirements gathering, dived deep into the actual analysis, and started to craft the story your data tells.

Now, you can begin thinking about how you can best visualize that story and translate it into an effective BI solution that drives action and decision-making. Before you jump into building dashboards, it's vital to further refine what "good" looks like for your stakeholders.

This means prioritizing key data sources and impactful KPIs to prevent information overload. Remember, too much noise on a dashboard, especially for non-technical users or those with less data literacy, often means it will simply be ignored. We want clarity and impact.

To help solidify this and ensure the BI solution is aligned with the stakeholder’s “Vision of Good”, apply the requirements you initially gathered to the Pain, Need/Dream, Fix model:

• Pain: Current frustrations and operational challenges.

• Need: Immediate, essential requirements for functionality.

• Dream: Ideal future aspirations and capabilities. This uncovers richer requirements, moving beyond reactive fixes.

• Fix: This is your solution and how it solves the “Pain” and should deliver immediately on the “Need”, eventually on the “Dream”.

Stakeholder-Centric Report Design

Adopting a stakeholder-centric design philosophy is key for creating intuitive and actionable reports. Every design choice should be guided by a deep understanding of end-user needs, their specific decision-making processes, and their level of data literacy.

Key strategies include tailoring reports to your audience by adapting to their required decisions, relevant metrics, desired detail, and preferred formats. Always prioritize the most critical takeaways by presenting them upfront for immediate clarity and impact.

Remember that the entire design process itself should be iterative, constantly refined through continuous stakeholder feedback. Consider holding “office hours” during your UAT (User Acceptance Testing) period so that end-users can interact with it and offer suggested feedback.

Optimizing Report Utility and Value

• Provide Flexible Data Views: Empower users with filters, selectable columns, and saved configurations (with appropriate governance).

• Strategic Refresh Cadence: Align report refresh frequency with business needs and decision-making windows. In a previous role, I had to work with reports where refreshes often would get delayed by a few hours. Because they were already scheduled to refresh close to when I needed them, this stalled decision making. I had to make the case to change that refresh cadence.

• Articulate Value Proposition: Clearly define the benefits each report provides. Is this report actually needed? Run a Cost-Benefit-Analysis if needed. Is there already another report that provides similar data? If so, what does this new report uniquely provide that the other one does not?

Reporting Implementation: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Slow report generation performance: Nothing kills a report more than it taking forever to load. It’s one thing if the initial load takes some time, but if every filter & slicer takes additional time, it’s going to be abandoned.

• Insufficient user training leading to poor adoption: in a previous role I held, I would create training documentation when I would release new reporting for leaders. This would drastically increase adoption, and often lead to users reaching out with educated questions and enhancement suggestions.

• Choosing seemingly cheaper solutions with high hidden costs: The cost of making bad decisions with poor data far outweighs the cost of purchasing a necessary BI tool.

• Treating BI solely as an IT project, neglecting its business purpose: Any tool that you implement just for the sake of implementing a tool will be ultimately a waste of resources and end up unused.

• Expecting users to easily abandon familiar tools (e.g., spreadsheets): I joke plenty about the common “can this be exported to Excel?” but the reality is, some folks want to play with the data outside of your dashboard. Meet them where they are.

Accelerating Data Democratization & Fostering a Data-Driven Culture

In a nutshell, data democratization is making data accessible and usable for all employees, regardless of technical skill. This enables informed decision-making throughout the organization.

To achieve data democratization, organizations must ensure data is easily accessible via user-friendly platforms and presented in an understandable, relevant manner. This involves breaking down silos and investing in tools that simplify data interpretation for all. Tools like Power BI, Tableau and Looker have made this easier in recent years, but providing training for these tools is crucial in ensuring everyone knows how to use them.

Secondly, fostering data literacy is crucial. This means equipping employees across all levels with the skills to effectively understand, interpret, and communicate data insights, enabling them to confidently use data in their roles. You’re teaching everyone to speak the same language. Create documentation that explains the rationale behind calculations, the reason why work was performed a certain way. This helps prevent “tribal knowledge” and improves data literacy.

Finally, robust data governance and security measures, such as clear policies and role-based access, must be intertwined with all of these efforts. This ensures data is used securely, ethically, and appropriately. Doing so builds the necessary trust to give more people access to data.

Conclusion

Disconnects between data teams and the business are incredibly common. It doesn’t represent a failure of your organization, it simply represents that your teams aren’t speaking the same language.

By improving communication and collaboration, designing analyses and reports around the stakeholders and enabling data democratization, your organization can increase data-driven decision making.

Why You Should Build a Culture of Feedback

You have probably heard “Feedback is a gift,” but let’s be honest… sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.

Feedback shouldn’t be just a formality during a performance review. It’s a critical tool for growth, innovation, and better decision-making, and it needs to be given and received regularly.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of training on how to deliver meaningful and honest feedback, and because of this, everyone suffers.

The best teams are the ones that move fast, innovate, and make the best decisions. If you want to be one of these teams, create a culture of feedback where Radical Candor (more on this) is the norm, not the exception.

Let’s get into why you should champion feedback as an individual contributor or a leader, and how to make sure it spreads throughout your org.

No Feedback, No Innovation

Want to kill innovation? Stop giving feedback.

Innovation doesn’t come from politeness and protecting egos. It comes from an iterative process, where ideas are challenged and refined over time.

When teams fear feedback, they:

• Avoid trying new things because experimentation isn’t encouraged.

• Miss opportunities for growth because the status quo is “good enough”.

• Get stuck in groupthink or echo chambers, afraid to challenge each other’s ideas.

What Innovation-Driven Feedback Looks Like:

• Encouraging experimentation and celebrating lessons learned from failure.

• Making it safe to challenge ideas, knowing that critique is about the work, not the person.

• Creating a loop of build → test → seek feedback → refine.

Without feedback, innovation dies. People won’t grow because they aren’t being challenged, and they’ll eventually leave your organization for a place that enables growth.

Radical Candor: The Compassionate Way to Help People Grow

If you’re not familiar with Radical Candor, it’s a framework created by Kim Scott that directs leaders to “care personally and challenge directly.”

Too often, leaders and colleagues avoid giving feedback because they don’t want to seem harsh or they may just say something “nice” (note the quotes) because they don’t want to hurt their feelings. Kim calls this Ruinous Empathy. It’s not “nice” - think of somebody having gum in their hair, but you didn’t tell them in fear of embarrassing them. Now they will go on to face other people with gum in their hair. Turns out, you didn’t save them from embarrassment at all.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the jerk that points, laughs, and says “hey look everyone, Zack has gum in his hair” (or beard, since I’m bald). It is challenging directly, but it’s not caring personally at all. Kim would call this Obnoxious Aggression - it’s the person who just seems like they’re trying to be hurtful, without being constructive.

The last bad one that Kim talks about is Manipulative Insincerity, or more simply, the backstabber. They don’t challenge directly or care personally. This is the person who tells you that you have been doing a good job, but then goes and complains about your work to your boss. Yuck.

Chances are, I hope, you don’t want to be any of the above. So what is the solution? Radical Candor.

What Radical Candor Looks Like in Action:

• Instead of avoiding a tough conversation, approach it with compassion and directness.

• Instead of “You came off really nervous in that presentation.” → Try “I can tell you cared a lot about that presentation. You did a great job with the content, but you seemed a little nervous. Remember to breathe and take a pause if you feel you are getting overwhelmed. If you want to do a dry run before the meeting next time, I’d be happy to be your audience.”

Honest feedback truly can be a gift when it’s wrapped properly and delivered with care. Take Kim’s advice and you’ll be able to establish trust and help others grow compassionately.

Meaningful Feedback = Better Decision Making

Good organizations thrive on evidence-based decisions, yet too many teams make critical decisions in an echo chamber for fear of backlash or scrutiny. It can be hard to be courageous and speak against consensus, but I promise, it’s worth it. So long as the feedback is delivered with Radical Candor and supported by data, you are helping the organization by speaking up.

Why Good Feedback Drives Better Decisions:

• It corrects assumptions that might be steering decisions in the wrong direction.

• It highlights gaps or blind spots in data, surfacing insights that may have overlooked.

• It brings in diverse perspectives, making decisions stronger and more well-rounded.

Supply Chain Dashboard Example:

• Imagine you build a dashboard that measures stock outs when they occur within your supply chain, but you didn’t add visuals for unfulfilled orders or lead times.

• If your buyers place orders based only on this information, they could overcorrect, increasing holding/rush costs, or creating bullwhip effects.

• Your manager notices this and says “I really like the layout of this dashboard and the filters/slicers for vendors and distribution centers. It’s easy to use and clean. To make it most effective, can we add lead time and unfulfilled orders in so we can help buyers prevent overcorrections?”

• Without this feedback, stakeholders could make poor decisions based on your data, and lead to the dashboard not being used at all which is a waste of your resources, and limits your growth.

When feedback loops are strong, decision-making improves at every level.

Feedback Builds Trust & Collaboration

The best teams don’t just work together, they push each other to improve. This can only be done when there is trust.

When feedback flows openly, teams develop:

• Stronger relationships based on trust.

• Higher performance because people aren’t afraid to improve.

• Better collaboration because people feel heard and valued.

What happens when teams don’t embrace feedback:

• Employees stay silent, afraid to challenge each other.

• Team members resent leaders who never provide growth opportunities.

• Organizations create a toxic culture where people leave instead of improving.

What You Can Do Today:

• Instead of waiting for feedback, ask for it proactively.

• When receiving feedback, don’t get defensive. Treat it as valuable insight.

• Assume positive intent, and use feedback as a tool for growth.

• Start normalizing regular, informal feedback (not just in performance reviews).

• Celebrate the wins! Recognition is also a form of feedback.

• Ask your teammates “What’s one thing I could do better?” and genuinely listen.

When people feel safe to give and receive feedback, they become more engaged, collaborative, and motivated.

Takeaways

Delivering feedback is difficult. However, if you do it with intention and compassion, you can help everyone in your organization grow and build a culture of feedback that drives innovation.

Remember:

• Without feedback, innovation and growth stall.

• Radical Candor is the kindest thing you can do, because real growth requires honesty.

• The best decisions come from input, iteration, and open dialogue.

• Feedback exposes blind spots, so you can fix them before they become problems.

• Trust, collaboration, and high performance thrive in feedback-rich environments.

I want to hear from you!

What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received? What’s one thing you wish more teams understood about feedback?

Do the Scary Things: Embracing Risk, Change, and Growth

Do you often find yourself shying away from something because it feels scary? Whether it’s taking on a big project at work, applying for a new role, or speaking up in a meeting, the fear of failure, rejection, or discomfort can keep us stuck in the familiar.

Here’s the thing, and I KNOW it sounds ridiculously cliche... growth truly doesn’t happen in your comfort zone. It happens when you do the scary things. And it will pay off.

Quit Your Job, Move 2000 Miles Away

When I was 25, I left my stable job at a big company and started working for a small company that I didn’t know much about, mostly because the work sounded interesting and I thought it would compliment what I was studying at the time.

It started out great, but within a few months, the honeymoon period wore off and I started realizing it maybe wasn’t the best fit for me. This happens.. right?

The truth was, I was in a bit of a crisis. I thought I had made a great career move, but it seemed like I took a horrible wrong turn. I could go back to the stable job maybe, but thanks to supportive family and mentors, I saw an opportunity to reevaluate where I wanted to be in 5-10 years.

I had always wanted to move to the mountains, driven by a passion for mountain biking and the outdoors in general. So, I made a decision - I’m going to quit my job (again), go back to the big company I left before, and put in a transfer to Oregon.

This was the scariest thing I had ever done up to that point in my life. Moving across the country to a place where you had never even visited is a massive leap of faith. It was terrifying, but I knew that it was much scarier to look back in 20 years and wonder “What If?”

So, I did it - and while I could bore you with the entire journey, I won’t - I could write 3 posts about the journey alone. After 8 years, 4 promotions and three different cities later, I met my wife-to-be and settled down in a small town on the Oregon Coast. I haven’t looked back and wondered “What If?” I stayed in my hometown, it’s clear I took the right path.

Here's the thing... even if it hadn't worked out, I could have moved back. The moral of the story? Unless you really make a colossal error, you can pretty much always backtrack.

Comfort Zone

I started this post with my story, because before I made that decision, I was unfulfilled and felt “stuck” most of the time. Like I was just waking up and going through the motions. I learned later that I felt that way because I was way too comfortable and not writing my own story because I was worried how it would turn out if I took the wrong turn.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the moments I’ve grown the most - as a person, a professional, and a thinker - were the moments when I was experiencing lots of discomfort.

Taking risks and embracing change doesn’t just make you better at your job; it transforms how you see challenges, problem-solve, and build resilience.

Why Scary Things Matter

1. Growth Through Discomfort: When you tackle something that feels overwhelming, you’re forcing yourself to learn. New skills, new perspectives, and even new confidence emerge from the struggle. If you have recently tried to learn something new, you can relate to this. It’s SO frustrating. But then, you start to get it, and that feeling is incredible.

2. Improved Critical Thinking: Risk often requires strategy. You learn to weigh pros and cons objectively, think creatively, and adapt quickly - all essential skills in any part of your life.

3. Building Resilience: Not every risk will pay off, but failure teaches valuable lessons - sometimes more valuable than successes. Over time, you become less afraid of failure and more capable of bouncing back quickly. It’s a muscle that has to be built.

How You Can Start

If stepping into the unknown feels daunting, start small. Volunteer for a task you wouldn’t usually take on. Reach out to someone whose work you admire and ask for advice. Or say “yes” to an opportunity that feels just a little out of reach. Be vulnerable, but move with intention. Each small step builds your tolerance for discomfort and your ability to take on bigger challenges.

Remember - nobody would expect you to be able to run a marathon on day 1. You have to put the “reps” in and build up slowly. When I was in the process of moving to Oregon, I had six months to prepare. I would make sure that I did just one small thing every day to get ready - search for jobs I could transfer into, find an apartment, research best areas to live in. The small steps all add up to still taking that big leap, but it makes it all more manageable.

Recognize yourself for taking small leaps of faith. Reinforcing the effort with reward helps you associate stepping out of your comfort zone with good feelings.

The Payoff

When you make “doing the scary things” a habit, you begin to see fear as an indicator, not a stop sign. It’s your mind’s way of signaling that you’re about to grow. The more you embrace that growth, the more confident, capable, and innovative you become - not just at work but in every aspect of your life.

So, what scary thing will you tackle today?