Hi ,
I recently heard the story of a data science manager who got up to present and proudly announced, "Don't ask me what my team does - I just sign the timesheets."
The room fell
silent. Was he serious about what he just said?
And 6 weeks later, that manager was reassigned to a far less technical team.
Yet, the manager didn't see that he'd done anything wrong.
After all, the technical side of things was the responsibility of the team - wasn't it?
Why else would he have been given the job?
As a data scientist, there is nothing more frustrating than being managed by someone
who doesn't understand the role. And the above example illustrates just how absurd that can be.
Yet, many data scientists would think nothing of getting up in a meeting and effectively saying "Don't ask me what the business does - I just fit the models."
If one is
absurd, then it stands to reason, the other must equally be.
The well-intentioned separation of technical specialist and management career tracks in many companies seeking to retain senior data science talent has created a harmful myth about the very nature of the role itself.
In data science, technical understanding and business acumen are not an either-or choice, but rather two fundamental parts of the same role - equally essential for creating business value.
The direct manager of a data science team should have some idea of the technical work that they're managing, even if they can't code. But similarly, data scientists need to
understand the business, even if they aren't responsible for business strategy.
Understanding the business context isn't someone else's problem.
For data scientists, it's an integral part of your job.
This week, schedule 30 minutes with a business stakeholder simply to understand their priorities better. Your technical work will become more valuable, and you'll distinguish yourself from the data scientists who only understand half the role.
Talk again soon,
Dr Genevieve Hayes.
