Stories From The Field09/10/2026

I Know Exactly Where I Can Use This

We started with eight. By the end, only three remSometimes the data just needs a different lens.

One of my favourite moments in a recent Data to Insight™ programme came from a participant’s reaction to something we introduced in class. The programme is designed for business professionals who work with data but are not formally trained analysts.

We were looking at a Pareto chart, which helps narrow a long list of contributors down to the few that account for most of an outcome. As soon as I demonstrated how the chart worked using an example, one participant immediately lit up. You could almost see the connection happening in real time.

Then she said, “I know exactly where I can use this.” That, to me, is one of the values of becoming more aware of the analytical tools available to you. Better insight is not always about having more data. Sometimes it is about knowing there are different ways to look at the data you already have, and recognising which tool might help you surface something that was not obvious before.

This week, I happened to meet the same participant in another class. She told me she had gone back and used the Pareto chart in her work. She then presented her findings to a client, who complimented her presentation in front of her senior leader, which made the story even sweeter.

That was a lovely full-circle moment. From discovering a new way to interrogate data, to immediately recognising where it could help, to using it successfully in a real business conversation.

And perhaps that is what practical learning should do: give you something that makes you think, “I know exactly where I can use this.”