# Past, Present, and Future of Analytics By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-05-01 Understanding is a complex endeavor. If one wanted to understand a topic, let’s say analytics, one would need to situate it in a context. One could examine its established past, ambiguous present, or possible future. One might attempt to combine these three for a complete understanding. Thinking about the skills required to do this helps in establishing why this is often done so poorly. Understanding the past requires the ability to assess as a historian. Understanding the present requires one to be able to distinguish those things which are lingering from the past from those things that suggest the future. Forecasting the future requires one to be able to see how nascent technologies and norms will propagate. Seldom are these different types of abilities resident in a single person. We need each other to fill in the gaps in our understanding. Analytics is more than one thing. At a minimum, analytics is its past and its present. But even here, there are a multitude of pasts and presents. We can only hope to understand a part of any of it. This matters because those currently engaged in analytics are contributing to what it will eventually become. Perhaps our actions as analysts will build a future in which the profession is held in high esteem for the insights it produces. Perhaps our actions as analysts will build a future in which the profession is viewed as wizards for its power that seems incomprehensible to most. Perhaps our actions as analysts will build a future in which the profession is viewed as snake oil salespeople for selling elixirs that promise vitality but never deliver. More likely, our actions as analysts, in the aggregate, will be a muddled version of all three. #### Related Items [[Understanding]] [[Analytics]] [[Time]] [[Future]] [[Past]] [[Present]]