This iconic scene from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy can teach you a lot about data analysis
3 lessons data analysts and companies can learn from the question about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one of my favourite films ever and in my job as a Data Analyst I frequently think about this scene:
So, essentially, this is what happened:
- A race of hyperintelligent beings dwells on the meaning of life.
- They commission their best people to build a supercomputer to calculate it.
- They ask for the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything and they want a simple answer.
- The computer asks them to return in 7.5 million years, after which time, a huge event takes place for the answer reveal.
- The computer finally reveals the answer to life, the universe, and everything: 42. And everyone is very disappointed.
- The computer says: “it would have been simpler to have known what the actual question was”.
- They go on to design a computer to find out what the question was.
Now, let’s replace some of the characters in the story:
- the hyperintelligent beings are a stakeholder requesting an analysis of data about a particular topic;
- the computer is a team of Data Analysts;
- the ultimate question is a very vague and open brief.
Feels familiar? Unfortunately, Data Analysts find themselves in this situation more often than they’d like. So, here are 3 lessons that we can learn from the supercomputer and the question about life, the universe, and everything.
1. An actionable analysis starts with a directional and thorough brief.
In the scene, the creators of the supercomputer ask a very generic question about something incredibly wide (it doesn’t get any wider than life, the universe, and everything), and worst of all, they expect a simple answer. Besides, after waiting for the analysis to be done, they realise they didn’t even know what the actual question was.
In order to build a truly useful analysis, you need to have a very clear, specific question with plenty of background about why that question is being asked. In the context of a data analysis team in a private company, this would mean having a clear and thorough brief. However, unfortunately, this part of the process is often overlooked and deemed a waste of time by both the teams requesting the analysis and the data analysis team.
2. Improve communication and avoid wasted time.
The question asked was indeed very vague, but the supercomputer could have also done a better job of advising its creators and asking for more information to narrow down the question. It could have also explained that it would be impossible to reach a simple answer so the audience knew what to expect. Also, periodical checkpoints would have been better than having them wait 7.5 million years just to have an answer that was not what they expected.
When you’re producing analysis for other people, using your expertise and experience to direct them is crucial so you don’t waste your time and theirs. Also, the touchpoints may seem like useless interruptions to your work but it’s actually time well invested in order to ensure the final analysis will indeed be applicable to their needs.
And if you feel like you can’t deliver what your stakeholder is looking for, it’s better to be honest and advise them on what you can do instead of dedicating your time and energy to a piece of work that won’t be used.
3. Numbers can say a lot, but they cannot say it all.
Even though the computer was obviously very competent and more than capable of making the most complex analysis, it was not able to give a satisfactory answer. Besides the question being vague, this is also because the meaning of life, the universe and everything would probably require some qualitative analysis as well.
This is a challenge for some data analysts that are very competent technically but perhaps struggle to contextualise the numbers and add other layers of qualitative findings to their analysis. In fact, many aspiring Data Analysts obsess over learning technical skills but forget to practice their storytelling and qualitative analysis skills.
Who would have known The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy could each you something about data analysis?
