An ad on youtube pops up. A model who was exercising for the last 15 years with a personal trainer and a dietician, spending the last three days on a water fast asks you:
“Do you want a six-pack in just six weeks?!”
“Don’t mind if I do!”. You shout enthusiastically. Seeing yourself shredding some cheddar on those bad boys later on a beach on your annual holiday.
“Just follow this simple program…”
You might find yourself buying some exercise program with obscure overpriced equipment and several kilos of protein powder. Because why not to drink all your calories in a mud-like substance.
Six weeks passed, your pantry is still full of protein powder which is suspiciously quickly expiring and the equipment has already gathered some dust. You find yourselves without £500, you’ve spent, and in the same body.
“What are you talking about?! This has nothing to do with data science!”
“Ok, calm down, no need to shout.”
A LinkedIn article pops up. A persona (in a suit this time, not just tight shorts) whose title is “Data leader, helping organizations leverage data, making data human…”, who has spent the last three months preparing a white paper.
“Our clients increased their revenue by 200% leveraging their data… companies, which won’t do it will be obsolete in five years. Says our survey.”
“I want to increase our revenue by 200%! And also I would like not to be obsolete!” You shout in a combination of the excitement of next year’s bonus and with fear that there might not be any. A strange combination indeed.
“Just contact us for a free consultation.”
You might find yourselves buying some off-the-shelf “Data science” product with an annual subscription for five years and consulting services on top of it. “Our software is too sophisticated for anyone else to use it. That’s why it works. If you don’t hire us you won’t get anything out of it.” You just wished they said it before you signed that five years deal.
You can probably see, where I am going with this.
Some time later in a moment of clarity, you might be thinking:
Maybe I could have improved my diet and lifestyle first…
Maybe we could have improved our data management first…
Just above average 
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