By: Eric Parker
Eric Parker lives in Seattle and has been teaching Tableau and Alteryx since 2014. He's helped thousands of students solve their most pressing problems. If you have a question, feel free to reach out to him directly via email.
My wife and I recently purchased an older house. We are doing some remodeling ourselves and our first big project was removing the popcorn ceiling and replacing it with more modern looking texture. Multiple weeks later we are (maybe) half-finished with the project. My initial estimate is that the project would take us 3 days. How was I so off? How did I anticipate it might take 3-6 days of manpower (depending on number of people working) and it’s looking more likely to take 20+?
The Dunning-Kruger Effect. The Dunning-Kruger Effect says that when we have low ability and practical understanding of a process, we believe it is much easier than it is in actuality.
In another recent example, my mom asked if I would be willing to put together a video for my sister’s wedding. Of course, I was happy to, but when she told me both she and the mother of the groom were going to supply me 100+ photos each, I realized this was going to be a pretty big project. She was surprised to hear that I wanted everything at least one-week before the event.
Based on past experience, distilling 250 photos into the most important images needed to tell a cohesive narrative would take several hours. Not to mention adding transitions, music, etc. Someone who has never edited a video wouldn’t understand that many hours of work go into developing a 10-minute video.
You might be wondering, what does this have to do with data analysis, Tableau and data visualization (our normal topics of discussion)? Quite a bit actually! I bet a lot of us (myself included) have our “Peak of Mount Stupid” moments in the past. Some of you might be in the Valley of Despair or some might already be on the Plateau of Sustainability.
Our aim is to speed you up the incline of the “Slope of Enlightenment”. It’s why we publish blog posts, host webinars and hold classes. We hope that our mistakes and hard-fought knowledge makes it easier for you to succeed.
Thank you for sticking with us, reading these posts and participating in the discussion. We appreciate it! And remember to have grace for yourself and others when those “Peak of Mount Stupid” moments creep up!