The Heart of a
Statistician’s Career:
Relationships and Interactions
How to be more effective in your professional life
Doug Zahn, Consultant, Zahn & Associates
O
ur careers consist of interactions—pre-
paring for them, having them, and carry-
ing out the plans made during them.
Some go well; some don’t. Here is an example of
one that didn’t.
About 25 years ago, I managed to save just
enough money to get my prized 1969 Mustang
fixed and painted. At dinner the night after I got
it back from the body shop, my 9-year-old son,
Derek, said, “Dad, some of the MUSTANG letters
on the trunk are loose.” I reacted with annoyance,
saying, “No, they’re not, Derek. I just paid a lot of
money to get the car fixed and painted. It’s fine!”
The rest of the meal passed in silence.
Doug Zahn taught
A week later, I was pumping gas and discovered I
statistics and statistical
consulting at Florida
was now the proud owner of a MU TANG.
State university and
Interactions always pose challenges for all parties. consulting skills in the
In this interaction, I was given relevant information
united Kingdom Office
and immediately dismissed it. Before reading on, I
for national Statistics.
invite you to identify an interaction that did not go
He recently won the
W. J. Dixon Award for
well in which you were a participant. Reflect on that
Excellence in Statistical
interaction as I explore my MU TANG experience
Consulting and is
with you. I also invite you to identify a trustworthy currently speaking,
partner with whom you can discuss your interaction.
leading workshops, and
writing a book about
statistical consulting that
explores the concepts
in this article in greater
depth under the auspices
of Zahn & Associates.
SEPTEMbER 2009 AMSTAT NEwS 31
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