This is a follow-up to a previous article, Transforming Data Analysts from Builders to Architects
Early last year, I shared my philosophy on transforming data analysts from builders (operators) into architects (strategists). My goal was to shift their perspective beyond their current technical capacity and empower them to become creative, skillful storytellers who can drive change and accelerate growth. Throughout the year, I focused on embedding this mindset into our culture, tracking progress, navigating challenges, and refining our approach. This article reflects on how I measured that transformation, the obstacles encountered, and where we ultimately landed by year’s end.
Building a Roadmap
I began by creating a visual framework to track the progression of the change from builder to architect. This visual was inspired by a similar approach used by the engineering teams in my previous role at ShopKeep. There, a yellow brick road analogy mapped progress with post-it notes representing a single activity that formed a path to Emerald City. I used this concept to structure my own framework by structuring the transformation into quarterly phases, each defined by an overarching theme and individual activities (post-it notes).
Using a staircase analogy, each activity represented a step upward toward becoming an architect. This visual was the blueprint for what all analysts would need to accomplish to capture what I believed captured change. I alone, monitored progress, intervening through coaching, team goal integration, and individual feedback to support development. At the time, I deliberately kept this roadmap to myself, aiming to prevent analysts from feeling overwhelmed or viewing it as an additional set of rigid goals on top of performance and team goals. I wanted this to feel more organic, rooted in purpose and repetition, rather than a checklist of tasks. Reflecting back on the year, I’m not certain I would change this approach, but I explore some of the challenges this decision presented later in the article.
The Staircase
The staircase framework for evolving from builder to architect was structured into four phases mapped to a quarterly timeline. It began with data empowerment, focused on democratizing data through tools, collaboration, and training. The goal was to create a workplace where teams were capable of independent data exploration, reducing the burden on analysts and freeing them up for other strategic initiatives.,
With data empowerment in place, the next phase, ownership, became possible. This phase shifted analysts from reactively fielding requests to proactively managing their time, priorities, and focus. All with the intention to align their effort and resources with the client’s business objectives. Success here meant analysts were represented by being trusted by other stakeholders and decision-makers through the consistency in their work and opening up more collaboration with strategic work.
The third phase, strategy, emphasized partnering with internal and external stakeholders to unlock new business growth opportunities. This phase required analysts to develop road maps, execute initiatives, and experiment, embracing creativity and innovation, even in the face of failure. However, reflecting on this stage, I recognize that true mastery is unlikely to be achieved within a single year. It demands deep alignment, communication, and cooperation across the team, which makes it difficult to fully cultivate within a single quarter let alone a year alongside other priorities throughout the year.
Finally, once analysts demonstrated strategic expertise they advanced to the vision setting phase. Here, experiences inform vision-setting blueprints for the department, ensuring that past successes can be systematically replicated. It's a phase about refining processes, addressing inefficiencies, and shaping a scalable framework for long-term impact. Ultimately, establishing a growth engine that continuously evolves and strengthens the team’s strategic capabilities.
(Quasi-)Objective Measurement
Creating a visual roadmap is one thing, proving its success is another. While it is always ideal to create quantifiable objectives to prove success, not all activities are possible. Philosophical shifts rely on subjective feedback and assessing whether an analyst can achieve each phase independently. Because of this, my evaluation of progress was quasi-objective.
This does not diminish the value generated by this framework, nor does suggest it to be flawed. Instead, it highlights the importance of measuring progress in a way that isn’t derailed by the absence of definitive metrics. The proof lies in the ability to record concrete examples. Collecting examples through various tools, channels, and feedback to capture if an activity was fully realized, where we need improvement or even cases where external factors made the activity unattainable. Tracking these initiatives and patterns over the course of the year gave me full confidence in distinguishing lasting transformations from areas where change had yet to take hold.
Realizing Major Challenges
When you invest time into a framework like this, you are biased towards the belief that it is a perfectly built plan that will go off without a hitch—only to quickly realize that isn’t the case. While I never expected every analyst to complete every activity of fully embodying the vision within a single year, I underestimated the challenges that drive, collaboration, and trust would present along the way.
I assumed the journey would follow a linear progression up the staircase one by one. However, as soon as we reached the ownership phase, it became clear that certain activities had underlying systematic issues that slowed progress, and created decisions to jump steps to continue progress, which would later create bottlenecks due to the prerequisites certain activities had with achieving later phase activities. In some way the flaw in assuming that each step was a strict dependency between phases was a positive as it meant we could still achieve more and keep the momentum despite roadblocks.
By the end of the year, we achieved around half of the roadmap. While shy of the roughly 70% achievement rate I feel like is a good indication of quality goal setting and progress, what was achieved was impactful, and even in the areas we need to continue to develop we identified critical gaps that pushed us deeper into resolving. The experience reinforced that transformation is rarely linear and that flexibility and iteration are just as essential as structure in guiding change.
Where to Go From Here
Challenges aside, I am proud of the team's work and the progress we made over the course of the year. Adapting to a new mindset and evolving within a role is not easy, but the changes sparked by this effort are clear. This past year marked a big step toward the vision I originally set out with analysts becoming strategic contributors. While we aren’t there yet as a team, the path forward is clearer and the experiences gained will fuel us to complete this transformation in the year to come.
For those navigating similar cultural shifts in their own organizations, I encourage you to use this philosophy as a guide. Change takes time, but the impact is worth it. If you have questions or are facing roadblocks, feel free to reach out—I’d love to continue the conversation.