by DJ Schofield |
Last Updated:February 20, 2024 10,000 hours. That’s what they say.
The problem is, there aren’t even 10,000 hours in a year. So what’s the formula? How did I become super good at DOMO in one year?
Well, let me first explain my background. I wasn’t starting from ground zero. I’ve been dabbling with code for nearly 10 years. Most have been some basic HTML/CSS and a good amount of WordPress (PHP.)
I’ve never had an actual developer position in any capacity. I’m 100% “self-taught.”
I first discovered BI (business insights) development in 2020 when I took a new position as a portfolio manager. The company used PowerBI; probably one of the most popular BI platforms in the industry.
I hardly dabbled in this… learning the basics of dashboards, data, and M language. Nothing too crazy but I knew enough to be dangerous.
Then one day I got a call from my old boss. He wanted to catch up and talk about the current position I had. I told him about some of the dashboards I’d been making and what my current role consisted of.
He quickly asked if I’d be interested in a “Customer Insights Manager” position. This position would entail building out all of the dashboards on their DOMO platform and being the CRM development.
Did I oversell my “BI developer” skills? Did I oversell my “CRM developer” skills?
To be quite honest, I had never done an ETL in my life, I’d made maybe a handful of simple dashboards, and never even seen the backend of a CRM.
So, how the hell did I get the job? Why did he want me for the job?
I didn’t oversell my skills or say I was the best BI or CRM developer. The only thing I hung my hat on were three things:
- I excel in learning and solving problems quickly.
- I’ll work harder and longer than any other person.
- I understand the industry and how business works VERY well.
And then after one year in this role, I proved myself. I took a 2 billion dollar company from using 100% spreadsheets to using 100% DOMO. Every aspect of reporting for the business is in this tool.
I built reports for the entire sales team, regional managers, executives, finance, demand planning, production, logistics, and marketing. Literally, every aspect of the business.
Hell, I even built out an entire ETL that allocates products to our customers based on many different factors. Check it out below… it’s pretty intense.
I have people ask me all the time… “how long have you been using this tool?” And they’re shocked when I tell them only about a year and a half.
Ok, enough about me. This isn’t me bragging. Trust me, if I can learn DOMO (or any other tool) in a year, you definitely can.
So, how did I do it? Well, as mentioned above, it clearly wasn’t 10,000 hours.
The formula is as follows:
(Time + Material + Mentors + Interest + Previous Knowledge)*Consistency = Skill
Now let’s unpack that…
Get Really Good at Learning
Learning how to learn is one of the greatest skills you can ever have. It is the backbone of gaining any skill. The key is to learn HOW you learn best. Is it watching YouTube videos? Listening to Podcasts? Reading books or articles?
One of the main things I gained in college was how to learn. I primarily learn best by reading and secondarily YouTube or video.
The key is to figure out how you learn the quickest and retain the most information. You must master this to gain new skills quickly.
The final thing I’ll say about this is to learn how to use Google, YouTube, and ChatGPT. Learn how to ask the right questions so you can get answers in the shortest amount of time.
Find Someone Really Good at the Skill
Mentors are the fuel to any fire. If you ever want to learn something quickly, find someone who is 5 years ahead of you and damn good at whatever it is you want to learn.
Luckily I had two main mentors at my company who taught me a ton of shortcuts and helped with a lot of my questions. No matter what it costs, mentors will pay off long-term so long as you KNOW they’re great.
Find Something That Interests You
I don’t like the word passion… “find your passion.” Shut up. I’m convinced if you find an interest and you find success within that interest it will naturally be a “passion.”
Interest + Success = Passion
So find something you’re interested in. Something that you can focus on for a long time. Something that seemingly never gets old. Do that thing. And do that thing some more. Until you find success. Then you’ll stumble upon your passion.
Learn Business or Industry
This one is kind of generic, but it helped me a TON. I’m in the lawn care industry and I found that it is MUCH easier to provide business and industry insights when you fully understand how the business and industry works.
This is a huge advantage in almost everything. Knowing the context and how things work will always help when completing tasks/projects and learning new skills.
Context is everything.
If you haven’t been in an industry very long or are not an expert in any specific industry you should learn business while you discover one. Business is fluid and it’s very repetitive.
Sure many businesses and industries are the same, but at some point, they’re all the same… make a profit. Learning the mechanics of how to make a profit is the fundamental core of business.
Consistency Wins
The #1 excelerent to learning a new skill is CONSISTENCY. The more often you do something and the longer you do something during that time the quicker you’ll learn.
I spend a minimum of 6 – 8 hours a day in DOMO 4-5 days per week. I’m basically in it all day, I’m building all day, learning new things about the tool all day.
The frequency of reps I get paired with the consistency of doing it every day is a guaranteed recipe for success. Honestly, consistency is easy when you find something interesting. It fuels your curiosity, which fuels your will to keep going.
Let’s Go
That’s how I did it and will continue to do it. It’s not easy but once you find the sweet spot of something you’re interested in it will all click.
Don’t forget the formula below and get out there and learn a skill.
(Time + Material + Mentors + Interest + Previous Knowledge)*Consistency = Skill
Cheers!