The Blue Collar Analyst

Beyond the pretentious buzzwords

I have ranted many times about the torrent of buzzwords that permeate the analytic universe. It is an endless array of ever-changing terminology. Most of it is barely more useful than the last round of buzzwords cast aside once the corporate universe became disillusioned with the results.

Enter the working man’s analyst. While the dress shirt or polo may not necessarily be blue… hell, there may be no collar whatsoever, he is engaged in some very functional and perhaps mundane activities. He (or she) is pulling and slicing data. Sorting and mapping, cutting and framing — it is an array of rather ordinary analytic functions.

Sometimes things get interesting, turtle necks, but our analyst is boxing, charting, and (egad) reporting. Such simple functions don’t sound all that impressive — do they? But in the end, these are the functions that secure millions (if not billions) each day.

Our analyst is coding, matching, and occasionally ordering. None of these functions require Latin phrases or even a large number of syllables. Hell, they don’t even use Fritalian… or whatever it is that Starbucks puts on their menu.

Sometimes things can get a bit dirty. Data is often dirty. Then there is mining, filtering, and the inevitable cleaning. For some reason this always seems to prove annoying or even repulsive to those analysts so proud of their causality, correlation, and standard deviations.

Training can be a pretentious term.

While blue collar analysts appreciate a good warehouse, they can also work with a lake or stream. They aren’t afraid of solutions or models, but they prefer tools and know better than to over fit.

Blue collar analysts know how to sample and test. They likely prefer it to experimentation. They also prefer great questions to a hypothesis.

Blue collar analysts know the meaning of training, but they also know it is can be used beyond a prediction model. They respect the discipline of analytics, not just the science.

Or not…

But be warned, most are not big fans of boot camps. They prefer real-world problems and hands-on experience.

Finally, blue collar analysts respect discipline and that sometimes their world and their data gets a little “Gunny”.

Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair.

Blue collar analysts appreciate it. Perhaps begrudgingly. But, it is what we live for. Enjoy the challenge. Get sh!t done. And thanks for reading!

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