Analyst Freedom

By nature, analysts are an inquisitive bunch who enjoy discovering new ways to interrogate the data. Like in many professions, analytical inspiration comes from a variety of sources and in irregular spurts. One thing I've noticed throughout my career is that environments that are more flexible and allow for more outside-the-box thinking (analyst freedom if you will) generally produce more unique and novel analytical techniques. Although the organization has less control over things, they are often the better for it. There is something about bureaucracy and rigidity that seem to work against analytical inspiration. It's fascinating.