You probably have seen the word “bokeh” as a camera effect on your smartphone or heard it from someone. However, the bokeh effect allows your camera to produce an aesthetic quality of blurry background, thereby keeping in focus the image that matters.

It took me a while before I realized how this feature as a concept could apply to my career life as a data analyst. Starting or transitioning into the data world would require you to learn a lot of tools. Regardless of the domain you choose, you’d have to learn a combination of tools to get your work done, some of which as an analyst revolves around data preparation, analysis, wireframing, UI designs and visualizations.

The burning drive to become a data analyst propelled me to learn a series of tools fuelled by an unlimited number of resources. I wanted to know them all, watch all the tutorial videos, and sign up for courses, ranging from Excel, MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Tableau, MS PowerBI, Google Data Studio, and Looker…, the experience was overwhelming. It was mentally derailing and exhaustive. I felt that was what I had to do to become a good data analyst, to learn it all.

I had taken a few pictures of my nephews one afternoon and was scrolling through them, when I noticed that particular photo with a blurry background stood out from the rest, it caught my attention. Within a split second, the observation turned into a concept I knew I could apply to my life. Why would I need to learn PowerBI, Tableau, Google Data Studio, Looker, and Quickview? Why couldn’t I just learn Tableau and be an expert in one rather than being a dilettante?

I have found that being a generalist is a fast track to the middle, but specialization will get you to the top of something. Nobody wants to hire a generalist, organizations want experts. In your data journey, apply the bokeh feature, focusing on a tool and shutting out the noise from the others, until you’re fully saturated. This would help you put things in good perspective and in setting achievable goals and overall, you’d most likely become an expert in it.

Shut out the noise and focus.