Lessons that 2017 taught me

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
I never used to see the point of "end of year round up" blog posts. But the journey that I've been on during the past year has lead me to reflect on what I have learned.

 The beginning of the year started off with me thinking about being data informed. This was balanced by a survey that showed this work had paid off. Since then I have put in processing to help collect and report on what we guided us to detect changes. Learning R and creating a repo to share the data processing recipes has been the culmination of this.

 Data isn't just an important topic for product management, combined with ethics it's a topic that is increasingly touching our lives. My interest was first piqued in my reading during April.  Later in the year as GDPR started to loom on the horizon I took a course on Ethics and Law in Data and Analytics. This was a great course that covered not only some philosophical exploration of what it means to be "ethical", but also how the legal framework in the US and Europe tackles the same issue.

 Alongside this I launched a side project. I have found that this is a great way to hone skills outside my usual work environment. It has also taught me about some of the differences between B2B and B2C. One of the things that is easier with B2C is that you can get feedback easier and target potential users on social media. One thing that is easier with B2B is having a clearer idea of customers and their needs ... they even organise conferences to tell you what they want!

 Finally, I have embraced the cloud! The biggest thing that I have gained in 2017 is using distributed apps. This has free me in simple ways, like being able to access my "library" of interesting e-books and papers wherever I am. It has also been great for collaborating outside of working hours and an office setting. No more carrying around memory sticks!

My top posts of 2017

Further Reading

My top picks of the crop of 2017 reviews/2018 previews

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