Free Lesson
Stop Doing Data Work Nobody Uses
60 min
Nov 4, 2026 1:00 PM
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What you'll learn
Choose which data requests deserve your time
Evaluate whether a request measures something meaningful and could change a real decision before committing your time.
Turn vague requests into useful questions
Define the decision, owner, metric, and deadline so everyone agrees on what the analysis needs to answer.
Scope the smallest useful analysis
Identify the evidence needed to make the decision, then scope work that can deliver it before the deadline.
Push back with a concrete alternative
Practice responding to low-value requests with a better question, a smaller analysis, or a clear reason to stop.
Why this topic matters
You chose data work to solve problems that matter. But a week can disappear into metrics that measure nothing and analysis nobody uses. That costs more than time: it crowds out useful work and wears down the people doing it. Choosing what deserves your effort, and agreeing on how someone will use the answer, helps you spend more of your working life on problems worth solving.
