About

The Data Whisperer is a blog about wrangling the ever-increasing volumes of data found in business and government and coaxing it to deliver valuable insights – to speak. If you are interested in using data to boost your performance by making better-informed decisions, the content here is for you. If you like to make decisions solely by intuition and the seat-of-your-pants, you should probably look elsewhere.

Hi, my name is Julius Campbell, and I am responsible for the content on this site. My mission in creating this blog is to help people use data to make the right decisions at the right time. I believe that proper use of data will lead to a better world. As Anthony Robbins once said:

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.

If this is true, then our collective destiny will be the product of the decisions we make. Using data properly is our best strategy for making the best decisions possible, thus co-architecting the best future possible for ourselves and for our children.

I began my career as a mechanical engineer and made the transition to information technology (IT) early on. I gained my first IT experience as an Oracle database developer, so I became closely acquainted with storing and retrieving structured data. I worked for several employers and was content that the work I was doing was important. It wasn’t until I worked in a capacity that included business development and marketing in my job description that I began to question the value of what I do.

Data is your most valuable asset.

I have seen this slogan in one form or another throughout my career. It made sense to me. Data has value. It must be handled properly. It must be protected. And if data has value, then handling it properly is a valuable skill. Here is the real question though: Have you ever used your best data management skills – created the data model to nth normal form, administered the database with all the proper tuning and redundancy, written queries with all the proper joins and that perform at lightning speed – and the project or even the company still failed? Me too.

Now I needed to help develop marketing messages to communicate the value of data management to potential customers. Why would a customer want my services? Because I can create a table? Because I can write a query?

I began to explore other topics within the realm of data management – data mining, data warehousing, data governance, data quality, data analysis – all the while looking for the value – the thing clients are really looking for and are willing to pay for. I finally realized that while all of these skills are valuable and necessary, they are all a means to an end. It finally all came together for me that the value of data is in its ability to inform decisions – good decisions made at the right time.

I decided to start this blog because I felt there were many blogs in existence that cover the technical aspects of data management, but not enough that discuss the philosophical reasons of what data is and why it is important. Since I was spending so much time pondering these issues it seemed useful to create a space where I could discuss them with a larger audience. My intent is not to assert myself as an authority or to have the last word on this topic, but to create a context in which other people can think. I am eager to learn from your experiences as well, so please feel free to introduce yourself and share your thoughts in the comments. I have comments enabled on all blog articles I post.

I am currently employed as a Senior Software Engineer with SecureLogix, although this is my personal blog so please don’t get mad at my employer for anything you read here. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas. I have design and process engineering experience as well as experience in information technology and enterprise software engineering.

On a final note, if we ever meet in person and you stand or sit next to me for any length of time, you will probably hear me hum or sing a tune. I may not even be aware of it, so please just ask me to stop if it annoys you. Music is in my blood. I play instruments and sing, and have written a few songs in my spare time.

There are several ways to stay updated about the content of this site or to connect with me. Choose the option or options that are right for you:

• Subscribe to The Data Whisperer in your RSS reader
• Not sure what RSS is? No problem! Subscribe to The Data Whisperer by Email
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Twitter
• Friend me on Facebook