Explicit Measures Podcast

As a follow up to episode 191 ( link here ), we are diving into this article on building data literacy and growing the required skills not just for you, but for all types of users at an organization.  https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/how-to-build-data-literacy-your-company Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the h...

If we really were to say where Microsoft is putting their money, looking at major releases alone you would have to say the Power BI Metric / Scorecard feature has a good part of their budget. Since it launched in May 2021, it has gone over some major transformations, especially since April 2022.  It is an enterprise feature (integrates with Power Automate, Viva Goals, Full API Stack) and the...

We have an AMAZING article that from Mara Pometti, really rocks the cradle in regards to what data storytelling is and why it matters to get it right if you want data literacy at your organization.  https://nightingaledvs.com/data-storytelling-is-the-conduit-for-modern-data-literacy/ Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the has...

What is the line between a professional and well-designed report and a beautiful report? Do our Power BI Reports need to be designed to perfection, ready to be printed out, or is does that take away from the intention and story of the report? Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into how to manage the wild world of unstructured data. How do we manage, control, and allow when teams can edit or modify data that goes into Power BI reports? Situations: Excel files that Power BI connects to Exported data that users create their own excel data from Self-service new filters and measures write-back. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you w...

We have another mailbag! The guys discuss the following: Is there a time when I should use Excel over Power BI? The situation I am thinking about is when I need to input different values to analyze various scenarios. One limitation I see with power BI is I cannot create a calculated table that is updated with a slicer.  To me, I cannot do a discounted cash flow without this option.. Get in to...

Watch this video first! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYYkRaU0xh8 How does the 21 mind traps video relate to us in the Power BI world? Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page . Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episod...

Mike, Seth, and Tommy dive into DataOps processes and methods and how much they should be integrated with Power BI developers. Links: https://www.kerski.tech/bringing-dataops-to-power-bi/ https://dkproduction.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DK_dataops_book_2nd_edition.pdf https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/2866765/Recipes%20for%20DataOps%20Success/DK_Recipes%20for%20DataOps%20...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive back into the Mythical Man-Month series and tackle the idea of the Second System Effect and how it relates to Power BI development. The Second System Effect is the tendency for a developer to "err on the side of over embellishment when planning their second project". This usually occurs when small, elegant, and successful systems can become over-developed and bloated d...

Based on this tweet: Andy Cutler on Twitter: "Is an Analytics Engineer a BI Developer? All the skills I’m seeing align with that." / Twitter What is an Analytics Engineer, and how does it differ from the normal BI Developer? What about a BI Engineer, or even a BI Architect? The guys dive into different roles and try to define them. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to disc...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy look at their practices to see if there is a larger need in our reports for more user interaction on the canvas itself.  We struggle with finding space for visuals, text, and data. Buttons can get in the way, and we usually hide them in the top corners.  However, from adoption and an easier experience for users, should interactive objects take more precedent in ou...

Inspired by Kurt Buhler (DataGoblins), Mike, Seth, & Tommy review how essential sample data, dummy reports, and messing around with non-business forward scenarios is essential to picking up new skills and growing the ones you have.  Is this essential to becoming an expert?  https://data-goblins.com/power-bi/sql-dataset https://data-goblins.com/power-bi/personal-data Get in touch: Sen...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy pick up a potentially contentious topic... Should ALL Power BI models have certain objects hidden from the report view? While there are more than one benefit to this, this always hides that object from any other view (live connection, Excel, etc).  Is this a basic practice, and if so what components would be part of this checklist?  Get in touch: Send in your ques...

The guys have extensively covered the Power BI Adoption roadmap and strategies, but one missing piece not truly reviewed is the importance of what are considered "Power BI Champions" within the org.  As per the documentation, there are Community of Practice Champions who is a content creator in a business unit and the go-to Power BI expert. (see link below). But what about Champions who do no...

Coming off the winds of an earlier episode, just how important is it for any report author to not just get familiar with searching in Power BI Desktop, but integrating it within their normal development workflow? There is both searching the formatting pane, and for objects in the model. Is searching always worth it, or should we figure out where the heck the objects are in the first place? Get in...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy talk through a conversation from Tim Warner, a Content Developer at Microsoft.  The crux of the argument revolves around the amount of Assumed Knowledge that is needed to start with Power BI (data modeling, knowledge, etc) before even jumping in.  We have been working in Power BI for a LONG time, so it is difficult to remember the early days, but how many new deve...

If you missed the December 2022 Power BI update, you missed a potentially altering way we think about DAX measures!  Three new functions were released that focus solely on the window, not the model (called Window functions), such as comparing the data next to the currently evaluated item in the visual, not from a evaluation context.  Regardless, should we start becoming experts in Window...

You have seen Microsoft update the subscription feature recently, and the guys review this potentially underutilized feature and how could it be brought to the forefront for solutions for users. Inspiration also comes from Dan English, who created a solution to use Power Automate to deliver subscriptions close to what Paginated Reports used to do.  https://denglishbi.wordpress.com/2022/08/22/...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss a question asked on Twitter revolving on ensuring the highest quality of reports, content, and data from a team of developers. Outside of just Data Quality, what checks, processes, and reviews should be part of reports and features? Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submi...

We got a mailbag! Here is the question: How strict should one be to always push new data sources through our framework before we build tabular models. When and where to draw the line of when it's ok to connect Power BI directly to a source system (or a replica of the same), to speed up deliveries undermining the long term support by not using our BI framework (bronze, silver and gold layers in syn...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy write letters to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft on their wishes for Power BI, and where the biggest needs are. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page . Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thur...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a common but hard-to-find feature in Power BI - Display Folders or Measure Tables for our DAX Measures? What is the cost and benefit for each, and should we adhere to one or the other? Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page . Visit Pow...

Based off this article on Bibb.pro...https://www.bibb.pro/post/why-business-intelligence-needs-a-figma-design-system Does BI "require" a Figma design system? We have talked in bunches about wireframing, but honestly how much of our time needs to be devoted to design tools? The guys discuss just that. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips...

The guys go back to the Mythical Man Month and speaking on an important topic: Plan to Throw One Away.  The idea back in the day and still true now is why do not focus enough on a prototype, both in design and in modeling. https://course.ccs.neu.edu/cs5500f14/Notes/Prototyping1/planToThrowOneAway.html Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerB...

The guys discuss two great articles around if the skill and success of Power BI resolves around Change management abilities.  https://jenstirrup.com/2022/11/12/business-intelligence-or-change-management-the-power-of-being-broken/ https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/brentdykes/2022/11/29/why-change-management-skills-are-essential-to-data-driven-success/ Get in to...