Blindfolded

I never cease to be amazed at the games kids come up with.

We have a large open room in our basement with no furniture at the moment. My three young boys love playing down there. Their most recent game - a version of Marco Polo.

You’ve probably played something similar. In this version, one boy wraps a towel, sweatshirt, or robe around his head (seemingly to prevent him from seeing and breathing), and begins to call out “Marco” while waving his arms around trying to tag his brothers. His two brothers call out “Polo” in response.

They have one important rule. In addition to “Polo” the boys who aren’t blindfolded are required to yell “Stop” if the blindfolded “Marco” is about to run into a wall. I appreciate their attempt at safety.

Inevitably though, the blindfolded boy slams into a wall face-first. “Why didn’t you yell, ‘stop’?” he screams at his brothers while rubbing his head.

Responses along the lines of “I forgot” “I didn’t see it coming” or just “oops” are common.

Too many teams and companies attack Data Projects blindfolded.

There might be skills and experience on your team, but blind spots are inevitable. The worst part of blind spots is you don’t know when you’re about to hit a wall.

Finding someone to call out “Stop!” can save you a headache. But from wasting months of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Whether in design, development, deployment, or delivery to stakeholders, an experienced outside perspective matters.

It was great to see you today,

Sawyer