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Welcome to The Quietly Ambitious Analyst, a podcast about data,
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communication and business. I'm Seth Forbes, and in each episode
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will unpack when it really takes to influence decisions with data,
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from framing business problems to communicating insights with confidence, because
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data alone doesn't drive change people do. When I first
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started out in analytics, I thought speed was everything.
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I was the yes report runner. I prided myself on
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being fast, efficient, helpful. I thought if I delivered quickly
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that people would trust me more and need me more.
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And so I was chasing this sense of validation that
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we all crave when we're trying to prove that we
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belong somewhere. So when my manager would ask me for something,
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whether it's pulling numbers, building a table, refreshing a report,
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whatever it was, I would immediately jump in. Didn't pause,
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I didn't ask questions. I just went into execution mode.
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And for a while that seemed like it was the
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right thing to do, until it wasn't because I started
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noticing a pattern. I'd deliver something quickly, only to get
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a message back saying I only needed this for new customers,
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or can you actually rerun it? Filtered by region A
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instead of region B or this is very interesting, but
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it's not quite what I meant. And what followed was
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always the same thing, reworking the analysis. Every single time
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I'd pull another version, resend it, and try it again.
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I started to feel like I was never quite getting
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it right, like I was technically doing my job, but
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I wasn't actually helping anybody. And what made this worse
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was that I really wanted to be trusted. I wanted
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to be seen as someone who understands the business, but
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in reality I was acting like a vending machine. You
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make a request, I give you a number. No conversation,
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no pause, no questions. And over time that really started
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to wear on me. I was exhausted from reading reports,
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I felt disconnected from my work, and worst of all,
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I wasn't building confidence in myself. I was building a
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dependence on speed. And then one day a senior leader
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asked me for a data pool, and something in me paused.
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Instead of rushing off to start the analysis, I asked,
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what kind of a decision are you planning to make
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with this data? I still remember the way that they
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looked at me, like, uh, nobody's asked me that before
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they shared their context. They were trying to evaluate performance
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across a particular set of marketing initiatives, and I realized
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that the analysis they were initially asking for wasn't actually
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complete without a few calculated fields, things that they didn't
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think to ask me for because they weren't the data
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expert I was. And that one moment shifted everything. The
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conversation became clearer, the expectations were aligned, the analysis actually landed.
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And then one day I realized, the analysts who ask
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better questions win not because they sound smart, not because
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they know every tool, but because they make space for clarity.
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So here's what I want you to remember. As an analyst.
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It's easy to fall into task mode, get a request,
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pull the numbers, ship it. But that's not where your
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power is. That's not where your growth lives. The analysts
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who get noticed the ones who become trusted partners and
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not just report runners. They're the ones who learn how
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to pause, how to dig, and how to reframe. They
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don't just deliver what's asked of them, they uncover what's needed.
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That means becoming less reactive and more strategic. And so
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I like to think of it as this. There are
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technicians and then there are detectives. Technicians are trained to execute,
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they follow the steps, they troubles you when something breaks.
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They're doing great at whatever it is that they're told
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to do. But detectives ask questions, They observe, They listen
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for what's not being said. They seek patterns, they explore
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root causes. Don't just respond, They investigate. And that is
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who great analysts become, not the fastest technicians, but the
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most thoughtful detectives. And so you could think of analysts
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as translators. You speak the language of data, but your
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stakeholders don't. They're often moving really fast, juggling a ton
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of different decisions and priorities, trying to hit their goals,
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so they don't always know how to phrase their request clearly.
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And so your job isn't just to answer the question.
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Your job is to translate their need into the right
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analysis and then translate that analysis into something that they
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can actually act on. And you can't do that without
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first understanding the context. So if you're listening to this
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and thinking, yeah, I've been stuck in rework cycles too,
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or or I would be really nervous to ask questions
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because I'm still so super new at this I see you,
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and I just want to say something clearly. This does
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not mean that you're bad at your job. It means
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that you're ready to start doing your job differently. You
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don't need to become louder, you don't need to be
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a human dashboard. But you do need to give yourself
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permission to slow down and to ask better questions. So
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here's a journaling prompt that I want you to reflect
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on for today. What questions am I afraid to ask
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when given a data request or in working in analytics projects?
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And why? Or you could even ask yourself, what's a
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request I recently received, either in interviews or from your
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colleagues that could have been clarified if you had asked
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for one more follow up. Let those answers guide you forward.
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Here are a few of the most powerful questions that
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I've learned to ask before I dive into any analysis.
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What question is this data supporting? What business problem are
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we trying to say? Who's going to use this and how?
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What segment, time frame or priority matters most? What would
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make this output actionable? If I only had ten minutes
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to present this, what should I lead with? These questions
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are small, but let me tell you. They are game changing.
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They save you hours of work, They clarify expectations, and
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they signal that you're someone who is thinking strategically and
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not just checking off a block. Now, I know that
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some of you might be thinking, but what if I
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am so nervous to ask questions? Right? What if I'm junior?
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What if I'm new? And I get it? When I
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first started, I was worried that asking clarifying questions would
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actually make me seem more unprepared or unqualified, like I
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was supposed to know everything that they already meant. But
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here's the truth. Clarifying doesn't actually make you look weak.
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In fact, it makes you look more intentional. And if
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you don't feel ready to challenge the request just yet,
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you can always start small. Try this line happy to help?
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Do you mind sharing a little bit more about how
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this will be used? It's kind, it's non threatening, but
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it gets you that all important context. I once worked
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on a campaign performance analysis where I did not ask
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any follow up questions. I delivered what I thought they wanted.
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I sent it early and was polished, but when they
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opened it, they were really confused. They could not find
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anywhere at might house is what they needed. Why It's
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because I didn't realize that they were trying to make
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this budget decision across different platforms and I didn't segment
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by channel oversight lost me both time and trust, not
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because I didn't care, but because I didn't actually ask.
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So if you're in a season of learning, maybe you're
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pivoting into data, or maybe you're in your first analyst role,
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remember this. You do not need to have all of
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the answers. But the analysts who grow are the ones
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who are brave enough to ask the right questions. And
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that starts with you right here, right now. The analyst
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who asks better questions wins. And if you're ready to
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stop feeling behind and start feeling confident as an insight
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driven analyst, stay close. This podcast was made for you,
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So until next time, stay curious and keep asking better questions.
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Thank you for listening to the quietly ambitious Analyst. If
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today's episode helped you see data in a new way,
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share it with someone who'd appreciate it too, and follow
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the show for more lessons on business communication and driving
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impact with data. And if you found it helpful, leaving
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a quick review really helps this podcast reach more people
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who want to grow in the same way. Until next time,
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focus only on what you can control, and strive to
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be one percent better each day.