A fleeting sense of securityor security as a science (and how to make your boss understand)

Im ag e by M op ic / S hu tt er st oc k. co m lions of users as they travel our network. What connects these two job functions is the ever present need to communicate complex ideas to management, customers, and coworkers. Jokingly, we call this “PowerPoint Science”: ˲ Your boss will cannibalize your slides for their future presentations, so make sure everything stands on its own as well as you can; ˲ Fewer words, more pictures and graphics; ˲ Put dates on every slide and make sure every chart axis is labeled; ˲ Ask someone to explain back to you what you talked about—it’s a great way to clarify misunderstandings in meetings; and ˲ Keep a digital “lab notebook” using PowerPoint or Google Slides. L ife in the world of startups is fast paced, and decisions have to be made on a dime. As a data scientist, your job is to analyze millions of database entries, and your boss needs to trust that you can convey the results both quickly and understandably. Everything is “ship it now!” Fires pop up and they have to be put out. In graduate school you had the luxury of time, but now, you may be called upon to provide data on major company decisions. These have to happen ASAP. You aren’t working to convince your committee or peer reviewers with hard data, rigorous analysis, and literature surveys—you were already hired for your expertise. Now you have to convince people to trust your work.