Explore Data Until You Surprise Yourself
Judging the You Are What You Eat Datathon reminded me why I love data.
Ross Gay, National Book Critics Circle Award Poetry winner, advises: “Keep writing until you surprise yourself—then you’ve got something!” If you’re persistent, Gay says, you’ll have flashes of insight. Then you have something to share.
This writing rule applies to data analytics too. When you keep exploring your data until you surprise yourself, you know you've got something.
This came to me as I judged the You Are What You Eat Datathon with Brett Dasgupta and Jana Marlé Zizková.
Brett told teams: look for the AHA in data.
Indeed! Keep searching your data until you have that aha moment. A flash of insight. Share that.
The 70 datathon participants flashed several insights about healthy eating. One of my favorites was from the winning team H, below. They loaded data into Spotfire from their “food journals” and compared their moods to FDA nutrition data. For example, Kristel learned that she eats less healthy when she’s sad and happy! Her data reminds us to be aware of both extremes.
Team H: Kristal Ann Pua, Angela Yu, Natalia Jennifer Surjorno, and Raquel Sarah Castro. From the You Are What You Eat Datathon, by She Loves Data and MSD
Team O found that sesame dressing is worse than thousand island dressing. And coleslaw salad dressing has more sugar than honey mustard dressing. These are small insights but show that data can unlock awareness that leads to healthier choices.
Team O, You Are What You Eat Datathon, by She Loves Data and MSD
My aha moment was that these women reminded me why I love technology. This simple, open, generous program by She Loves Data and MSD helped me learn, smile, and be inspired. Indeed, donating time to join their mission of diversity, inclusion, and equality in tech, indeed, gave me as much as I put in.
Thanks for inviting me to be a judge and a gift of a surprise to share!
Explore these resources to learn about She Loves Data and MSD
If you’d like to get involved with She Loves Data in your geography, check out the resources below and get involved!
Check out this post, and an accompanying video, here on LinkedIn.
Overview of the You Are What You Eat Datathon
Introduction to She Loves Data and a video by founder Jana Marlé Zizková
We first started sponsoring She Loves Data when they were based in Singapore. Since then, She Loves Data has Gone Global.
This event was sponsored by MSD, led by director Eric Gifford.
