Weekly Reflection: Generasi GIGIH
July 2021, Week I
Have you taken a pause this week? What do you do in between your pauses? Binging a TV series? Picking your favourite yet dusty guitar? Don’t worry, it is totally okay if you don’t have the answers to the questions above yet.
For a while now, I have been practising a habit to reflect on what I had done the previous day. It manifests in the form of a journal, where I pour my thoughts before I let my body rest at night. It isn’t magical or anything per se, it just helps me structure my thoughts and become more aware of what I feel and why I think a certain way.
Taking the leap
Coming from a Computer Science background, I have never felt confident about my technical capabilities. Even so, during the beginner level, I was given the opportunity to learn about SQL and Python. It was a great experience, having to unlearn and relearn those rusty skills.
This week was my first week at the intermediate level of Generasi GIGIH. Honestly speaking, it was quite surreal to be given another chance to learn. With a leap of faith, I continue making my way to understand more about being a data analyst.
With a group of 50+ learners and mentors, we learnt about data in general, data roles, and data warehouse. Whether we realize it or not, data has been a part of us since we were born. The 3.5 kg, 47 cm, black hair, hazel eyes.
Data isn’t just about the numbers. Data is about who we are.
How we implement the use of data towards various industries or fields is just unimaginable: business, people, company, environment, accounting, etc. Truly, this shows just how versatile data is.
It’s not just about the technicality
When we hear about the work in the tech industry, especially within data roles, we expect them to excel in both technical and soft skills. It is not an uncommon thing to know that data analysts should have remarkable analytical skills (thus, the title).
Turns out, there are hidden layers to explore. Being in a team also creates a need to be a great collaborator. Their critical thinking is often tested to further dive deep, as well as to take a balcony point of view to look into the problems and the proposed solutions. One that amazes me is that they practice effective questioning thoroughly to solve problems. On top of that, they also need to be able to tell stories using data to deliver a meaningful message to the stakeholders.
Most people think those are all the skills that determine an astounding data analyst. However, there are still so many things beyond that. They need empathy, one of the most underrated skills of the century. The art of putting one’s shoes in others. It is listening actively and asking the right questions. It is understanding the data and its business process. It is imagining various scenarios in their heads about what might or might not happen.
“If you want people to make the right decisions with data, you have to get in their head in a way they understand. Throughout human history, the way to do that has been with stories.” – Miro Kazakoff, an MIT Sloan lecturer
One of the most important things I’ve learnt this week is the vital step of data quality checking to ensure its accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness, and validity. Other than that, it is the fascinating concept behind data warehouse. It has never occurred to me to have such a sophisticated yet simple way of storing data.
Making room for improvement
Learning through this week, I have to say that this is quite a lot to take in. All the new knowledge about data and its practices in the industry, the struggle to understand a fundamental concept. With this, I feel grateful to be exposed to such unfamiliarity. Finally, my takeaway to overcome the hardship is:
- Willing to be vulnerable → Being open to sharing your struggles and asking for feedback sounds scary. But, it is such a loss if we never experience shame in our learning journey. How can we grow without it?
- Be comfortable with the unknown → When we don’t understand something, take the time to research and learn more. The urge to learn and improve HAS to be way stronger than the fear or discomfort itself.
With everything said, thank you for reading up until this point. I had a wonderful time learning this week. If you’re one of the learners too, don’t hesitate to reach out to talk!
This note serves as my own take at Generasi GIGIH. Hope this is useful in any way. Lastly, let’s keep learning wherever you are. Stay safe and have a great Monday! :)
