Hidden Measures

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Everybody is happiest when they know how to win.

Nobody has ever argued over who won the Super Bowl.

But college football has more than a dozen (depending on who is counting) years where who won the national championship is debatable.

While it can lead to long conversations between fans and commentators, nobody thinks not knowing who the champion is is a good thing. It’s frustrating for fans, players, coaches, and administrators (just ask the 2023 Florida State University Football team)

A data project of any size should have clear rules for knowing when you’ve won.

Nobody should be arguing over if the project was a success.

Without clear expectations of what “winning” looks like, everybody will intuitively come up with their own ideas about what a championship means to them. Getting rid of that old system feels like a win to one of the data engineers. Retaining the exact look, feel, and useability of a report is a win for operations. Under budget is a win for finance. On-time (or ahead of schedule) is a win for the project manager.

At the end of the project, everyone walks away with different ideas about who won, or if the project was a success.

The measures for success were hidden. Everybody held them tightly in their heads - and assumed everyone else felt the same way.

Without the whole team agreeing on what “winning” looks like.

You are plowing rocky soil and planting crops riddled with weeds.

I’m here,

Sawyer

from ​The Data Shop

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