How to Rescue a Failing Data Project in 7 Proven Powerful Ways

A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming a Failing Data Project

Hanzala Qureshi
5 min readAug 2, 2023
Photo by Viktor Hesse on Unsplash

A failing data project is as certain as death and taxes.

I recently came across the 2mm rule by Tony Robbins; the gist is that small changes can significantly impact your trajectory for success. Throughout my career, I have seen many failing data projects. Most had the writing on the wall, but they continued on the path to doom for various reasons.

Today, let's learn how to rescue these projects from total failure.

1. Understand the Current State of the Project and Gauge How Far It Is from the Desired Outcome

The first question to ask is, what is the desired outcome?

It sounds simple, but you'll be surprised to hear how many projects can't see the wood for the trees. The desired outcome could be a report, dashboard, a predictive model helping with a business decision. The desired result won't be a data pipeline, data model or data warehouse; they're a means to an end.

Impact on Data Teams

Data Teams need to start looking at the problem holistically. Data engineers can't just focus on their…

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Hanzala Qureshi

Data Architecture Consultant | Data Evangelist | Learn more about all things data by following me @ hanzalaqureshi.medium.com