For the first five weeks, every Friday at The Data School is a project day. You are assigned a mock client, given a brief, and from that moment the clock starts. Research, sketch, plan, build, present. All in one day, no extensions, no do-overs. In that time, I have worked through four different mock clients across five of these Fridays, with my fifth being a migration of my fourth project from Tableau into Power BI. Each one was an opportunity to practice the full range of skills we had been building: sketching, data modeling, dashboard design, and presenting to a stakeholder. Looking back, one skill improved more than any other: my ability to scope work appropriately and communicate a clear story within the time available.
When I started these projects, I approached them with the mindset that I should demonstrate as many skills as possible. If there was an opportunity to add another visual, another sketch, or another layer of analysis, I wanted to take it. The result was usually the same. I would spend too much time trying to build everything and not enough time refining how I was going to present it. The visuals would be there, but the story behind them would not. It took until Week 4 for that lesson to really click.
I was working with a Financial Products Manager, helping them understand performance across their branches, products, and agents. The brief covered three full views. Looking at the time I had available, I made the decision to cut one of them entirely and focus on turning two dashboards and five visuals into one coherent story.
The difference was immediate. I had time to rehearse. I knew exactly what I wanted to say before I walked into the presentation. My coach noted that my presentation skills had improved and that I had done a good job downscoping the project. That feedback meant more to me than any compliment on a visual ever had because it showed I was improving at the part of consulting that clients actually experience.
Then Week 5 arrived. This project involved migrating my previous week's Tableau work into Power BI. Because I was building on my own work rather than starting from scratch, I became focused on improving the dashboard itself. I wanted to fix the things I had noticed after Week 4 and create stronger visuals. The dashboard improved, but I overlooked something important. The client in the room does not necessarily remember where the previous conversation ended. My recap of Week 4 was minimal, and that created confusion before I had even shown a single visual. It was a reminder that good communication is not just about presenting insights clearly. It is also about making sure everyone starts from the same place.
That lesson feels directly applicable to real client work. Never assume shared context. Always bring the room back to where you started before showing them where you are going.
What stands out to me now is the contrast between those two weeks. In Week 4, I was happier with my presentation than my visuals. In Week 5, I was happier with my visuals than my presentation. Neither week was perfect, but together they taught me something valuable. A successful project needs both.
A dashboard does not need to be extravagant to tell a good story. What matters is that you understand the problem, scope the work to what is realistically achievable, and communicate your findings with clarity and confidence. Clients do not need to see everything you can do. They need to see that you understand their challenges and can help them make better decisions.
The MVP mindset, building the most basic and functional version of a solution within the time available rather than the most ambitious version imaginable, is something I am still developing. Some weeks I apply it better than others. What these five Fridays gave me was the chance to see the difference for myself. That is probably the biggest lesson I am taking forward. Good consulting is not about building the most. It is about delivering the most value with the time and resources you have.