Maulik Shah

Data & Analytics Engineering Lead 📈| I write about Analytics, Mindfulness, and Personal Growth, delivering clear insights for easy understanding💰

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

#1 mistake I see in reporting tables: Skipping the conversation on long-term reporting needs. A table at the wrong grain works great now, then breaks when the business asks a new question.

Ask stakeholders: what do you need now, and for the future? Saves months of rework.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

The most underrated SQL skill?
Knowing when not to write a JOIN.
Half the performance issues I’ve debugged came from unnecessary joins that could’ve been replaced with a simple CTE or pre-aggregation.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@thesamparr I’d love to join if there’s still space for one. Thanks.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@thepatwalls 1. How many different business ideas did you try before landing on your current one?

2. And which signals helped you double down on the current business idea? Thank you.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@Sdiaz_7 I’m interested. Can you DM me?

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@fainzaig Hi Julian, I’m interested. Can’t DM you for some reason. Can you share the ticket price here or DM me? Thanks!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

Every day was the same: too much to do, not knowing where to start, and ending up overwhelmed.

Then, I started answering three simple questions in my journal every day, and it helped me work much smarter, be productive, and get more done:

Priorities Unearthed
Prompt: "What is today's non-negotiable task?" Focusing on a single pivotal task daily cuts through the noise, enhancing my productivity by fostering a laser-like focus that data from the American Psychological Association supports boosts task completion rates.

Distractions Deleted
Prompt: "What will I say no to today?" By keeping distractions away every day, I saved 40% more time than I used to, echoing findings from time management research that saying "no" is a tool for safeguarding focus.

Accomplishments Amplified
Prompt: "Which small victory can I celebrate right now?" Reflecting on triumphs regularly improved my workplace morale and motivation; studies in the field of positive psychology suggest this can lead to a sustained performance boost.

In one month, focused journaling removed unproductive habits and greatly improved my workday with a clear sense of direction that I had only hoped for before.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

To summarize, Here are 3 Life Lessons I learned:
- Progress over Perfection
- Conscious Breathing acts as a beautiful anchor
- Celebrate small victories along the way

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

As the chill set in and the winds rose, I found myself face-to-face with life's rawest lessons.

It is 7 am, January 21, 2024. The weather outside is 19'F with 26 MPH of Gusty winds. It is a clash of icy wind, the kind that bites at your bones, while my apartment remains a cozy haven at 68 degrees.

"I won't step outside today," I declare from the safety of my blanket.

A Scroll, A Quote, A Spark Ignited

As the soft glow of my phone illuminates my resolve, I stumble upon a beacon of wisdom from David Goggins.

"Mental toughness is a lifestyle. It's something that you live every single day of your life." it reads.

In seconds, my blanket lies forgotten, and I'm facing the chilly air outside.

Heading home after my hour-long stroll, I found myself pondering over the lessons today's walk offered and the wisdom gathered from a whole year of daily walks.

Here are 3 big lessons that really stick with me:

1) The Triumph of Progress
Just like a roller coaster, life's full of ups and downs. Not every day's going to glow bright or feel awesome.

The key? Keep moving forward, step by step towards your dreams, even when things aren't perfect.

Today, the weather was no friend of mine, and staying inside seemed like the best plan. But I put on my brave hat and went for a walk anyway.

Guess what? I caught some bright rays of sunshine, and now I'm all charged up and excited for whatever comes next.

Remember, even a tiny bit of moving forward is way better than staying still.

1% progress beats standing at zero!

2) The Symphony of Breath
Conscious breathing is beautiful and powerful yet so underrated.

It leaves no room for past worries or future anxiety and helps you focus on the present moment.

I always have my podcasts playing during walks, but today, my airpods got left behind!

So, I thought of something from my meditation time: Why not just breathe on purpose and take in the beautiful nature?

10 minutes of conscious breathing can relieve stress and set you up for the day!

3) The Joy of Little Celebrations
We can get so caught up in reaching that big dream that we don't notice or cheer for the small steps we've taken.

It's like we can only see the top of the mountain, not the path we're walking.

Acknowledging how far we've come and celebrating small victories along the way is important.

I'll admit it: I sometimes forget to be happy about the little things I achieve because I'm always looking at the big goals.

But after my tough walk in the cold today, I decided to do something nice for myself and enjoy some delicious banana bread.

Every little success is worth celebrating!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@ViiSSGG @obsdmd Very interesting! I was thinking of utilizing Notion for writing and organizing content but will checkout Obsidian as well.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@GurungYash1 Love all the books by Ryan Holiday! So many good lessons in them!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@ericrod Great tips for writing!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@camber_99 I liked the 2nd tip about pairing it with a modern adaptation.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@anwittin Thanks for sharing the takeaways. I'm eager to read the book now.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@JenyaLegin1 I really felt it today so switched to a different topic instead and that helped me power through and write an atomic essay.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@anwittin This is so insightful! Thanks for sharing!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

@itskevinraj Crushing it, Kevin!

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

Feel free to like, share, and repost this if you found it helpful.

Here's a link to my blog where I have written other articles: https://t.co/XZO1MflFqL.

[Maulik Shah @shahmaulikk]

Mismanagement of a Business Intelligence tool can be a multimillion-dollar mistake that no data professional wants on their resume.

Imagine this: It's the first day of the year, and your company ignites excitement with a new Business Intelligence (BI) tool.

The air buzzes with anticipation as teams dive headfirst into a world of sophisticated dashboards and sleek visualizations.

Fast Forward: Chaos Unfolds

Few years go by, the company grows, and the once-praised BI tool now drowns in a sea of cries.

“This BI tool is frustrating!” “Why’s everything so slow?” “Why doesn’t the number look right?” “Which report should be used for analysis?”

It’s become an unsolvable puzzle of who owns what data and which numbers can be trusted, forcing the company’s hand to bleed money in search of a new solution.

The Repetitive Blunders I’ve Witnessed

Tapping into my wealth of experience with varied BI tools, I’ve watched this cycle repeat, with mistakes that creep into promising beginnings:

Mistake 1: Unwise Creation of Materialized Tables

Materialized tables constructed within the BI tool itself—a costly misstep.

The Shortcomings:
- Entire dataset is rebuilt on a daily basis — a lavish expense.

- Absence of quality checks and freshness guarantees for your data.

- Streaming billions of real-time records? Good luck.

- Tables are not immutable so it is hard to track the change history for fields

The Smarter Move: Create materialized tables in Snowflake or a suitable data warehouse, sidestepping the chaos.

Mistake 2: Short-Sighted Creation of Business Definitions

Embedding complex business logic directly in the BI tool, a key that locks everyone else out.

The Shortcomings:
- Company-wide usage of the business metric becomes an uphill battle.

- Updating business definitions while keeping historical data? A strategy yet to be invented.

- Leads to creation of ‘multiple sources of truths

The Smarter Move: Cast business definitions within Snowflake or any other data warehouse, nurturing a single, sturdy source of truth.

Mistake 3: Loose Access Control and Content Organization

Lack of strategic permission setting and content organization leads to a free-for-all editing access for all employees across all spaces within the tool.

The Shortcomings:
- BI tool littered with thousands of conflicting report variants

- Disorganized content, making it even harder to find the ‘main’ report

- A mounting technical debt that leaves no option but to scrap the entire BI tool

The Smarter Move: Empower the creation of reports within personal sandboxes, while safeguarding the official reporting space and only giving the data team access to create reports in those official spaces.
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In summary, ensuring the effectiveness of a BI tool hinges on strategic implementation and ongoing management.

It demands thoughtful construction of materialized tables, clear business definitions, and meticulous access and content control. 

By establishing these wise practices within your organization, you can avoid a costly cycle of mistakes and fully harness the BI tool’s potential for enduring business intelligence success.