For the longest time, I believed something simple:
Data is a dump. Once processed or analysed, it becomes information, and information is gold.
Like many students entering the world of data analytics, I assumed raw data had little value until it was cleaned, processed, and visualised.
But over the past few months, a question stayed with me:
Do we really understand data?
The more I reflected, the more I realised that my understanding was incomplete. Today, I see data very differently.
To me, data is like meeting a stranger for the first time.
You may know their name, their background, a few facts about their life.
But do you truly understand them? Not yet.
Understanding emerges through conversations, observation, and patterns over time.
Data behaves in exactly the same way.
A dataset may contain thousands of rows and columns, but until someone asks the right questions, the story within it remains silent.
This is where data thinking begins.
Life Itself Is Data
Consider a few simple statements:
I wake up at 6:00 a.m. and sleep at 9:00 p.m.
I walk 15,000 steps a day.
I eat two burgers a week.
Every month, I spend ₹10,000 on entertainment and invest ₹25,000.
Individually, these may seem like ordinary lifestyle facts.
But together, they form a pattern of behaviour.
In business analytics, we often describe data using the well-known 4 Vs:
• Volume – the amount of data
• Variety – different types of data
• Velocity – the speed at which data is generated
• Variability – how patterns change over time
Interestingly, our lives reflect these same characteristics.
Life itself behaves like a dataset, constantly generating patterns waiting to be understood.
Data Is Like an Ocean
When we stand beside the sea, we see waves on the surface.
But beneath it lie powerful currents shaping the movement of the ocean.
Data works the same way.
At first glance, we see only numbers, rows, columns, and spreadsheets.
But hidden within them are trends, relationships, and signals.
When those signals are interpreted correctly, they guide decisions.
This ability lies at the heart of an analytics mindset.
Oceanographers study waves to predict tides and storms.
Businesses analyse data to predict customer behaviour, market trends, and future demand.
The data was always there.
Insight emerges only when someone learns how to see it.
A Simple Business Insight
Consider a common example from business analytics.
A retail chain analysed its sales data and noticed that umbrella sales often increased a few hours before heavy rainfall in certain cities.
At first, the pattern seemed obvious: rain increases umbrella sales.
But a deeper analysis revealed something more interesting.
Customers were not buying umbrellas during the rain.
They were buying them just before the rain began.
By combining historical sales data with weather forecasts, the company started stocking umbrellas in advance and highlighting them in stores when rainfall was predicted.
The result was simple but powerful:
Customers found the product exactly when they needed it. Sales increased.
The data had always existed.
The insight appeared only when someone interpreted the pattern correctly.
The Real Power of Data: Interpretation
Today, in many organisations, everyone has access to data.
The same dashboards. The same reports. The same charts.
Yet different people reach completely different conclusions.
Why?
Because data does not automatically create insight. Interpretation does.
Two people can look at the same report.
One sees numbers. Another sees opportunity.
This is where the real value of data analytics lies.
Tools help us process data. Vision helps us understand it.
The Eye of a Jeweller
Imagine two people looking at a rough stone.
To most, it is just a rock.
But to a jeweller, it may be a diamond waiting to be shaped.
The difference is not the stone.
The difference is the eye that recognises its value.
Data works the same way.
To many, a dataset is simply numbers in a spreadsheet.
To someone with analytical curiosity, it becomes a map of hidden opportunities.
Developing that perspective is what builds a strong analytics mindset, especially for students pursuing an MBA or careers in analytics.
A Thought from the Bhagavad Gita
विद्या-विनय-सम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śuni chaiva śvapāke cha paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ
Meaning:
A wise person sees all with equal vision, whether a learned scholar or otherwise.
The verse reminds us that wisdom does not lie in what we look at, but in how we see it.
In many ways, data works the same way.
Everyone may look at the same dataset, dashboard, or report.
But only those who observe carefully and think deeply discover the insight hidden within it.
Beyond Dashboards
For many professionals, data analysis is about tools: dashboards, visualisations, programming languages, and statistical models.
These tools are powerful and essential.
But tools alone do not create understanding.
True analytics begins with curiosity.
It requires asking better questions, exploring patterns, and thinking critically.
This is the foundation of data thinking.
The Real Treasure
In the end, data itself is not rare.
Every organisation produces enormous volumes of it.
Reports are generated every day. Dashboards are everywhere.
But insight is still rare.
Because insight does not come from data alone.
It comes from curiosity.
It comes from thinking.
It comes from the ability to see what others overlook.
This is what defines both data analytics and business analytics at their highest level.
Data is not the true treasure.
The real treasure is the mind that learns how to understand it.
And those who develop that ability will not just analyse the present,
they will begin to see the future.
Mr. Aashish Redkar
Assistant Professor