Be first to a 90% solution
The world of analytics is always a bit ambiguous. There is almost never 100% clean data or an obvious data driven narrative.
It's easy to go down analytic rabbit holes without producing anything.
The trick to avoid this is to:
- Understand the greater business/organizational outcomes you're seeking
- Bring a 90% solution that helps the client achieve that outcome
For example, I'm working on a project to build a dashboard that tracks the "time to hire" for the agency to hire a new employee.
We don't have perfect data for each step in the process, so I don't have insight into how long it takes take to get from step A - B, B - C, etc.
What I do have is enough data to say A - D takes X time, and D - Z takes Y time.
So I am building a dashboard that says "hey you should focus on this first batch of steps because that takes the longest."
Even though I can't be as precise as I want, it is still directionally correct because it helps the client set a target goal.
Other contractors/consultants may say things like "the results are ambiguous" or "we can't be certain" and take a long time to deliver anything.
But, if you can quickly deliver some (imperfect) results that help move the needle, you'll look like a rockstar.
A 90% solution now is better than a 100% solution later.
Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.