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The Little Book of Data
Book

The Little Book of Data

Understanding the Powerful Analytics that Fuel AI, Make or Break Careers, and Could Just End Up Saving the World

Justin Evans
HarperCollins Leadership, 2025
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Editorial Rating

8

getAbstract Rating

  • Background
  • For Beginners
  • Engaging

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Experienced data explainer and raconteur Justin Evans shares stories that reveal the big picture of how data solves problems. Drawing on a host of real-world examples, including Uber, Nielsen, Facebook, Klaatch, CharityWatch.org, New York City’s Bureau of Communicable Diseases (BCD), and Speedeon, Evans shows the vital role data plays in innovation. He encourages you not to let data intimidate you and to build the knowledge that puts data’s “superpowers” — such as gaining new insights, helping deploy critical resources, and communicating crucial ideas — to work for your organization.

Summary

Ask questions to learn about data.

Data is a powerful problem-solving tool. Ride service Uber, for example, finds your pickup point by using the location data in your cell phone. Your phone gets its location from data detailing its distance from the nearest cell phone towers, Wi-Fi routers, or satellites. Data pervades every aspect of daily life, from checking the weather forecast to finding a coffee shop. Yet many people avoid learning about data because they find it intimidating. They think they must get a degree or learn to code to do anything useful with data. Many of these people encountered data experts who use jargon to make others feel uninformed. These “data bullies” hoard information to remain in control.

Asking questions is how you learn about data. When private equity firms sought to spend $10 billion buying out data analytics company Nielsen, they sent highly educated bankers to investigate the business. Some of Nielsen’s executives gave evasive answers about the company’s data sources, hoping to keep their jobs by appearing to be the only ones who could comprehend Nielsen’s complex system. The bankers politely but persistently asked...

About the Author

Writer and speaker Justin Evans helps Nielsen, Comcast, and Samsung, among other companies, harness the power of data.

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