The Business of You: Be The Bar Graph

by Kenneth J. Weiss
October 17, 2005

"How are you?" "What's new?" And even, "'sup?" Pretty simple questions. If you are like most people the retorts are simple as well. "Doing well." "Not much." And "Nuthin." Is this really the way you look at life, family and career? Take a step back. Way back. Even further. A little objective distance will show a cacophony of data. The spreadsheet of your life has nearly infinite rows and columns. Within that intimidating data are the answers.

Data visualization is a key skill in business and in life. Often interesting relationships, immediate understanding and the keys to decisions can be made dramatically more evident by looking at data in a visual format.

The Line Graph

Line graphs, sometimes called frequency polygons, show relationships over time. This one shows the length of a career on the horizontal, X, axis and salary on the vertical, Y, axis. In this example the person had some immediate success in their career, sustained it, took a hit, recovered and eventually reached a plateau. What does yours look like? How steep are the ascents and descents? Were you able to sustain the desired levels of income for appropriate periods of time?

The Cartesian Graph

This type of graph is sometimes called a scatter plot or, if you want to be geeky, a X-Y multi-set Cartesian graph. This is a great visual device for showing relationships of numerous data points and juxtaposing values. In this example the values of Making Money and Making Me Happy are shown to be contrary forces. Likewise, Working For The Man and Working For Me are shown to be in opposition. Consider point A: The job is making the person happy and they feel some personal benefit and satisfaction. Perhaps this person is an artist. How about B? This person is making some money, but feels as though they are not ultimately in control. Maybe this person is a broker at a large investment company. Take a look at C. They are in the driver's seat and making money, but ultimately they are not completely happy. This person could be a small business owner who works a lot of hours to maintain their level of success while sacrificing family time and other leisure opportunities. How about D? The balance of money and happiness is about right, and the person feels that they are the beneficiary of their efforts. What kind of job could this be? Yours?

The Radar Graph
Radar graphs, AKA spider or star graphs use numerous types of data and the idea of total area and shape to represent data sets. Think of this example as "How Square Are You?" If your area is neatly packed around the center you are probably still pretty cool. If your area stretches across the graph, you are probably, ah, like me. Hmm...

Data Isn't Dull
Data visualization can be interesting and downright creative. Challenge yourself by choosing different combinations of values and exploring new types of graphs. A simple Venn diagram of overlapping circles can show common ground. For instance a graph could have two circles. One labeled, "Things I like to Do" and the other labeled "Things My Wife Likes To Do." Are they nearly concentric or do they barely touch? The possibilities for graphs are as endless as your personal data. Dig in. Be the bar graph, and the next time some asks, "How's it going?" you can be ready with a "Generally showing positive movement over the last 3 months."

If things are bad you can just say "Fine."