The Two Types of People in the Data World

There are two types of people in the data world:

1) Hedgehogs
2) Foxes

Not what you expected me to say, huh?

Yesterday, I finished reading a book called "Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math and Life.”

But I’d expand that subtitle to include data, too, because the book taught me a lot about how we data analysts can approach problem-solving in new ways to work faster and more efficiently.

Anyway, the following quote jumped off the page and grabbed me like none other:

“The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing… Foxes tap into a broad range of interests - a horizontal thought process. The hedgehogs think deeply - a thought process that runs vertically, perpendicular to the foxes’ thought process. Foxes are interested in everything. The hedgehogs are single-minded in their obsessions.”

My dorky mind couldn’t help but relate this idea to the data world. Perhaps we’re all foxes and hedgehogs.

Some of us are interested in everything.
Some of us are obsessed with one thing.

So, here’s my question to you…

Do you think it’s better to be a fox or a hedgehog in the data world?