Today I had the chance to take part in a factory visit at the Eisberg plant in Gyál, where Zoltan Gazsi gave a very vivid demonstration of just how complex and fragile the process is that lettuce goes through before it reaches our table.
Zoli said that he sometimes asks visitors which bothers them more: finding a hair or finding a ladybug in their salad? Everyone is bothered more by the hair, because a ladybug is so cute. 🐞 What about a bug? 🕷️ Well then, they'd rather have the hair.
Yet a hair is nowhere near as capable of causing trouble (infection) as a bug that lands on all sorts of things — I won't go into detail here. 💩
I hope the analogy isn't too forced, but since I work a great deal with data and data quality, it made me think about how much the same is true in our daily work as well. In general, people are less bothered if their data is stored in colorful tables. Better that than in a black box that we call a database. 🔲
Yet it would be important not to give in solely to the temptation of appearances. Data always conceals connections, stories, that are abstract, not visible at first glance, and it can only be decided after thorough examination whether the product is good, bad, or perhaps contaminated.
Then, when we want to present something fresh and presentable to management, there is a great scramble and uncertainty about whether the result is really fit to be accepted. Of course, if the presentation is colorful, it will be more easily accepted. But maybe it doesn't reflect the truth. Or maybe it's full of bugs?
