Hi When someone flips a request mid-sprint, try this:“What changed in your world that makes this direction better?”It shifts the tone. You’re not resisting, but helping reframe.Sometimes they just saw a new chart. Other times, there’s a real pivot up...

Hi When things break, skip hour-long blame sessions. Use three prompts:What worked?What surprised us?What will we try next time?Timebox each to ten minutes. Document, assign owners, close. Momentum stays high.Cheers,YordanPS: I wrote an article on po...

Hi When a stakeholder says, “This dashboard saved us”, reply:“Mind if I quote you in one sentence for my team retro?”Paste the quote into a “Wins” doc. Over time, you build convincing proof of impact for leadership reviews.Cheers,YordanPS: Lesson 4 o...

Hey friends,This week, I wrote two pieces I wish I had read 5 years ago. And apparently I’m not the only one. One of them sparked a wild comment thread on LinkedIn. More on that in a sec.Let’s dive in.How to build a data engineering portfolio that ac...

Hi Sprint reviews die when acronyms fly. Build a living “Biz Glossary”:Create a sheet with columns Term | Plain Meaning | Owner.Populate it live in meetings.Share the link in every ticket.Clarity compounds and juniors ramp faster.Cheers,YordanPS: Gra...

Hi Friday demos often feel like “data team monologue”.Flip it:Show a single chart.Ask: “If this number moved ten percent, what changes for you?”Note every reply live on screen.You will surface hidden requirements and let stakeholders co-own next step...

Hi Requests labelled “urgent” can nuke real priorities. Reply with:“What breaks if we ship this next week instead of today?”If the answer is reputational, legal, or revenue-blocking, slot it high. If not, negotiate.Cheers,YordanPS: The Data Leader's...

Hi The first project meeting often explodes into feature wish-lists. To stay sane, walk in with five questions:1️⃣ What problem are we really solving?2️⃣ Who loses money or time if it stays unsolved?3️⃣ How will we measure “fixed”?4️⃣ What is already...

Hey So… tomorrow’s the day.I’m opening up the Data Leader’s Influence System. This is the course I built to help technical experts stop getting ignored, start getting buy-in, and finally see their work adopted the way it should be.But before that, I...

Hey You ever spend days fixing something, improving something, shipping something solid...Only to find out later that nobody used it?It’s brutal.You know the system’s better.You know the change helps them.But the adoption? Low. The feedback? Meh. The...