Sometimes it is most important to say no - because it helps nobody if you are always the yes man. That brings only chaos into everything. But also: start with the minimum viable action to overcome procrastination. 

There is another no: don't become a commoditized data scientist. Focus on concepts and understanding, not on tools. "The technical doing is the smallest part", emphasizes von Rohr. Simple technicalities won't excite your audience, because of that: zoom in - zoom out. The big picture is only the start, then you have to have a look at the details.

Dr. Diana Mantel

Be aware of Conway's law, because the structure of what you build will reflect the social boundaries of the organisation. For the analytics journey there are special challenges: often the analytics take too many different paths. So what can you do here? "Prioritize data integration, data quality and reuse", emphasizes von Rohr. "The name implies it: Good ,Data Science' starts with the word ,data'". 

Consistency is key here: "Brushing your teeth won't make them white", says von Rohr. "But try out not to brush them for a year..." Code is written only once, but read very often. "As Bill Gates said: most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate what they can do in ten years."

Dr. Diana Mantel