The archive · Two volumes · One thesis
Every Sanity Check, in order.
17 essays across two volumes. Volume I (2021–2023) built the pattern language for the modern data stack. Volume II (Apr 2026 onward) extends it to the agentic era. New essays land at the top.
Volume II[2]
Volume I[15]
- SC 017 — Analytics Arcade: Applying the Great Game of Business for a High Score The founder's biggest career analytics win, told through Jack Stack's Great Game of Business framework. At a 30-year-old tech company with a fragmented "zoo" of animal-branded products, a small tas…
- SC 016 — Data Repair Work Identifies eight distinct ways data projects break and argues that understanding failure modes enables better maintenance strategies. Key solutions: deprecation processes for metric definition chan…
- SC E07 — Data's Secret Sauce Explores the tension between protecting proprietary business insights and sharing analytical methodologies. Uses cooking analogies: share the recipe, keep the secret sauce. Just as Granny's fruit c…
- SC E06 — Open Book Analytics Explores why the analytics field is experiencing genuine momentum. Rejects surface explanations (rebranding, new tools, "purple people") in favor of a deeper cause: bottom-up narrative construction…
- SC E05 — Analytics Crafting a Way Forward Argues analytics should recognize itself as a legitimate craft, not just a technical discipline. Three traditional approaches to hard jobs: specialization, automation, or professionalization. Analy…
- SC E03 — Analytics: The Mixed Bag A wide-ranging exploration of why analytics struggles with identity despite universal organizational need. Four problem areas: unclear terminology (endless rebranding from "Knowledge Discovery" to…
- Incremental Models - Meteoric Impact People think incremental means small. Taking tiny steps. This is not one of those stories. Sometimes incremental changes can open new opportunities.
- From Flywheel to DAG How a flywheel becomes a DAG: Time.
- In Defense of Black Boxes Black box models are not the problem. Unexpected results -- or variance in the results -- are the real problem.
- Soft Skills of Remote Work Where do you learn how to screen record? Get good audio for meetings? These were not part of your job description, but they are no longer optional.
- How to Get Analytic Infrastructure Buy-in To successfully roll out a business-wide analytic infrastructure you have two paths:
- No Vendor is Prince Charming No vendor will save or correct the gaps in your business' analytics. Take responsibility yourself. I know you can do it!
- Two Inputs You Must Control to Avoid Insanity Albert Einstein is credited with saying "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting different results."
- Getting Started with dbt Teaching analysts to level up and use the dbt stack. Lots of tools to configure, so let's show them how to do it.
- Analytics Canon There are definitive sources in every field. The founder wanted to write one for the Analytics space. Kimball comes to mind. There are also several related ideas that are not consolidated to one so…