Everyone has heard of the 10,000 hour rule. However (spoiler alert!), it’s not always true.
Veritasium published a fascinating video on this topic not too long ago (Youtube link); the crux being (if my memory serves me right!) poignant learning > passive learning. It’s better to spend fewer intentional hours learning the appropriate/excellent nuances/mannerisms than going ‘gung-ho’ and seeing what sticks. Maybe paraphrasing by someone smarter than me will help: “If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed” (Ecclesiastes 10:10 ESV).
I recently spoke with someone looking to get into the Microsoft #powerbi space. The individual comes from a background in business intelligence, however, we all know that not all business intelligence tools are created equally 😜 (reference Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI platforms). The point being, this individual knows a lot without knowing a lot about Power BI in particular.
I wanted to share publicly what I shared with this individual. Hopefully, codifying this message will save you LOTS of time and effort on your Power BI journey.
ANYTHING BY SQLBI IS GOLD
Well… I suppose I can’t just end it there 😅
SQLBI has an AMAZING roadmap to get from ‘here’ to ‘there’ when it comes to all things DAX/PBI/Analysis Services (full documentation here). In order to distill these learnings even further, here is my non-exhaustive list to add value to any individual/organization (bold are ‘requirements’):
- Understand PBI Data Modeling: SQLBI Free Course | SQLBI Full Course | Amazon (Affiliate) Book Link
- Understand PBI DAX: SQLBI Free Course | SQLBI Full Course | Amazon (Affiliate) Book Link
- Understand PBI Visualizations: SQLBI Full Course
- Understand PBI Tools: SQLBI Free Course
- Expert: Understanding PBI (Full Stack): SQLBI Full Course
- Expert: Kimball Data Modeling: Amazon (Affiliate) Book Link
- Expert: Anything ‘Optimizing’ from SQLBI: SQLBI Full Course
Certainly, there are many other contributors in the space who give excellent quality information for free: Guy in a Cube, Chris Webb, and plenty more. Please follow them!
Lastly, connect with REAL people in your area. Join a group, find a mentor, etc. If you can’t connect locally, join a virtual community. Power BI User Group is a great place to get plugged in, help, and to get help. Note, helping others gives you real world experience with real world problems.
Indifferent, I hope you found this article helpful and resourceful. If we at Analytical Ants LLC can be of any assistance to your BI projects, feel free to reach out! We love helping where we can.
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