Final Blog Post: Reflections

 

In the second half of this final module we did some very interesting network analysis with Gephi. Going through Assignment 4 I learned a lot about how to analyze a network and bring together both the visual aspect and the metrics. Gephi is a very powerful and user-friendly tool for those starting out with network analysis. Based on this experience I am eager to do more network analysis in the future. I can also now see the excitement that one feels when they uncover something unexpected in a network or can repurpose data to break down a different problem. 

Reflecting on this course, I’m very happy that I shuffled my classes to make sure I could take it. I feel that I have learned so much and have a lot of great insights to take forward. Sometimes I have found that I learn a little bit of a topic or how to use a certain tool but then I don’t use it and I quickly forget. In this course, based on the assignments and the continual reflection I feel that I have retained more and have identified ways to use what I’ve learned in my day to day role. 

This course has helped me move past Business Intelligence as a broad term and has pushed me to think about the elements that can best serve me. Further, it has made me think critically about how to apply these tools for analysis. If used incorrectly they do not provide any of the insights or value they promise to deliver.  A key takeaway for me is thinking about the dataset, the problem I seek to solve and focus on problem solving and not solutioning. Understanding the dataset, the metrics and the visualizations and how they fit together is fundamental. Incomplete understanding will lead to the misapplication of these tools and methods. 

Going forward I am most excited to think more about the Balanced Scorecard, Dashboards and Networks. I think that we often become complacent with our tools and technologies and do not fully utilize them. Then when they aren’t serving our needs, we go for drastic overhauls rather than small adjustments. I’m going to be mindful of how I think about the data and tools I have to solve the problems and answer the questions that I face. 

This class has taught me to be very thoughtful when considering the data and tools I use and properly align them with my end goals. In terms of the balance scorecard, I have learned to think about the steps needed to achieve an overall goal and by breaking them down. I have learned to tell a cohesive story in a dashboard and surface the most relevant and actionable information. Finally, I have learned to assess networks and understand the underlying factors that create communities and bridge them together. 

Overall, I have a lot of great food for thought, paths to research further and the goal of putting this knowledge to great use. Thanks everyone for all of your insightful blogs, posts and comments and that pushed me to think about the topics we covered in a new way. 

All the best!

Julia