More than Just the Camera
A friend of my family is an exceptional photographer. Working in New England, he manages to capture some of the most spectacular shots of the fall foliage, the mountains of New Hampshire, the native wildlife, and much more. His images have been featured across the country to demonstrate the beauty of the area in which he lives. He’s incredibly talented.
Similarly, my wife and I were very lucky to find the photographer who helped us memorialize our wedding day; he’s got an eye for finding just the right angle to capture the sentiment of moments throughout a big event like a wedding. His images have enabled us to relive that happy day over the years.
Both of these talented men - and the other men and women like them - use tools for their work that you or I could purchase. A digital camera, maybe a tripod sometimes, a large memory card. And with the incredible acceleration with which the popularity of photography has increased - driven by ubiquitous cameras in our cell phones, cheaper and cheaper digital cameras, and inexpensive storage for thousands - millions - of digital images, more and more people like you and I have started to fancy ourselves “professional” photographers too.
But - let’s face facts - we’re not. My images of the fall foliage along the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire looks nothing like what Jim is able to accomplish, and the snapshots our friends and family took of our wedding, while cherished, have a distinctly different air to them than the images Daniel was able to capture. The equipment might have been a little bit different, but that isn’t really the difference. The difference is in the expertise.
The same is true for data and analytics. There is an explosion of tools in the marketplace today that offer to assist with the development of meaningful analytic knowledge for organizations, and to simplify the process of turning raw data into that knowledge. Many of them are quite good and able to deliver on the promise. But being able to truly capture knowledge from raw data - to refine it into something that can help drive business decisions - isn’t something that can be accomplished simply by having the right tool. You still need to have the individual who knows how to operate that tool in a way that marks the difference between a casual snapshot and a professional portrait.
That isn’t to say that the tool doesn’t help. It does, and the more that these tools figure out how to simplify and automate the most repeatable, least valuable steps of the analytic process, the more your data team will be able to accomplish. But it still takes someone who understands the outcomes you want to achieve, who’s seen the pitfalls of one technique versus another, who’s familiar with the tool and knows how to configure, prepare and use it to achieve your greatest results. It’s a symbiotic relationship between the tool and the craftsman.
When we traveled to New Hampshire years ago to enjoy the autumn leaves, I wrote Jim ahead of time and asked him if he had any tips. I don’t recall exactly what he said, but in essence the answer was that it took years of practice to achieve images like his. Lots of early mornings getting up before the sun and hiking to the top of some remote hill. Lots of familiarity with the area itself, and a willingness to wait, for hours, for the opportunity to capture the right image. Most of us aren’t willing to invest the time to do that, but when we want a great image, we have to be thankful there are folks who will.
A thoroughbred needs a talented rider. An oven needs an experienced cook. A high-tech camera needs a thoughtful photographer. And that fancy data tool still needs a knowledgeable operator.
It’s more than just the camera.