🦕 You Might Be An ND Methodologist (Non-Data-Centric) —
Look, we’ve all been there. You're halfway through a steering group, someone uses a phrase like "data is the new <add your own precious commodity>." again you realise... this project is being run by people who think "source-to-target mapping is like a vineyard tour—there’s heritage at the source, complexity in the middle, and by the time you reach the target, 'half the data's evaporated ‘to the angels’.
So, in the spirit of friendly banter, here’s a checklist. If you—or your project stakeholders—tick more than a few of these, it may be time to evolve... or at least stop fossilising the data strategy.
🕵️♂️ You Might Be Non-Data-Centric If…
🔍 You chase external consultants…
Not for their data architectural genius, but because “they are one of the few people that know how to write reports using your toolset”.
You can’t model a schema, but my word, you can do a mean set of bullet points in Helvetica.
📋 You ask business users where the data lives…
Because obviously, Cheryl in Payroll is an expert on cross-system joins and slowly changing dimensions.
🔐 You’re committed to data security…
In fact, so committed to data security, you won’t share the metadata. Then casually Google what "metadata" means while blaming Teams for your camera being off.
🖼️ Your highly paid consultants are channelling Piet Mondrian sketches, not ERDs.
We’ve turned data into colourful abstract slide art—leaving the data architects slightly stunned.
📉 You prefer clutter over clarity.
History explained in decks, not data. You go for the 30-slide epic to tell the story of historical data — instead of using one clear diagram to show the good old SCD Type 2 pattern.
🧱 You think data structures are someone else's problem…
“I’m just the BA.” — Sure. And the electrician doesn’t need to know where the fuse box is either.
🪪 You claim names aren’t Personally Identifiable Information…
Because “lots of people share names”. True. But we don’t all share NI numbers. Or common sense.
☁️ You say Active Directory isn’t needed in Azure anymore...
Because you didn’t get the 2023 memo that Microsoft just bundled it with a few extra tools and called it Entra ID. Azure AD service still exists as a subset of Entra ID
📐You don't grasp that SQL DDL is the metadata bit where you draw the map before starting the data move journey...it defines the structure your data needs to land in, so it doesn’t spill all over the floor when it arrives. Without it, your extracts have nowhere to go, and your transforms are just flailing about in the void.
🚫 You treat the data model like Voldemort… It must not be named.
And certainly never spoken of in planning meetings.
📊 You build the dashboard before the data…
It looks gorgeous. A shame—it runs on optimism and fairy-tale fumes.
💰 You write the business case before checking the data…
A bold move. Like ordering champagne before confirming the pub stocks it.
📉 You tick “Data Governance” on the risk log…
…then move on. You’ve technically done your job. Spiritually? You’re on a break.
🧬 You think data lineage can wait…
“We’ll sort that out later.” Yes, right after the post-go-live panic and audit queries.
🧏♂️ You believe “understanding business data” means taking notes...
Like a very expensive dictation machine. Some BAs still treat operational moans as gospel and think their job ends once they’ve passed it on, unfiltered and unquestioned.
..🧼 You clean the data before you understand the transformation...
Because it seems easier to fix the data than to admit the real issue might be the process, not the data itself.
🚀 Time to Evolve
If you spotted someone on your team here (including the one in the mirror), don’t panic. Recognising these habits is the first step toward becoming truly data-centric.
A truly data-centric mindset doesn’t just ask, “What do we want to see?” — It asks:
🧭 “What’s possible?”
📦 “Where does it live?”
🔧 “How do we shape it so it tells the truth?”
Because in the end, you can paint over a crack… But you can’t decorate your way out of a structural collapse.
💡 Share this page with your favourite well-meaning project dinosaur — Just don’t expect them to evolve until someone says it’s a compliance issue.
