Explicit Measures Podcast
Episodes
290: Mailbag Mania!
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy go through more mailbags from the community on process & technology, data literacy, and moving forward in data platforms. ...
289: Implementation Tuesdays - Key Results in Tacitical Planning
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy continue their Implementation Tuesdays as they dive into what it means to have key results and measurable success. WE UNDERSTA...
286: Creativity in Power BI
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dissect a video from the amazing John Cleese (yes, the John Cleese from Monty Python) about creativity in management... How ca...
285: Power BI Implementation Tuesdays - Strategic Goals
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy continue their deep dive into Microsoft's Implementation Guide and focus on what Goals mean, how to get them right, and ge...
284: Down & Dirty With the Politics of Data
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a great article by Ralph Torres on what happens when adoption goes wrong. How do we deal with control, ownership, an...
283: Implementation Tuesdays Part 3 - Stakeholders & Workshops
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy continue to dive into Microsoft's white paper on implementing Power BI. Today, the importance of the right stakeholder - ...
282: Power BI Year in Review - 2023 Edition
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth & Tommy break down the highlights around Power BI in 2023 (Remember when January started with Data Mart updates?) and what is going to ...
281: Implementation Tuesdays Part 2 - Strategic Research
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy kick off the new year in a flash as we continue the Power BI Implementation series and dive in. This is part 2, which is JUST ...
280: The Future of Customer Understanding by Data Marc
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an awesome article by Data Marc about the change of how Business Intelligence & Customer Viewpoints (Dynamics, S...
279: Microsoft Fabric Secret Santa
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy raise the stakes on giving new Power BI gifts - what perfect (not real) gifts would be Power BI & Microsoft Fabric incredi...
278: Semantic Link & Great Expectations
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a new article from Microsoft Fabric, Semantic Link & Semantic Models, and how it dives into data quality and dat...
277: Power BI Implementation Tuesdays - Strategic Planning
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Starting today, we are focusing on Implementation Tuesdays, focusing on the Microsoft Documentation focused on Strategic, Tactical, and Solution Plann...
276: The Impact of the New Power BI Explore Feature
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy figure out the what new impact on business users the Power BI Explore feature can have on adoption, feature enablement, and tr...
275: Business Alignment, Power BI, & Microsoft Fabric
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, Tommy see what it means to effectively communicate with the business, aligning strategy, goals, and relationships, and structuring BI arou...
274: Real Time Analytics in Power BI & Fabric
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into how important Real Time Analytics and what is going in Microsoft Fabric. Link: https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-...
272: Change Management in Power BI
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive back into the Adoption Roadmap and focus on change management. How does this work from a small, medium, and enterprise sc...
273: New M Functions for Microsoft Fabric
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hot off the press, Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an incredible new function for Power Query (M). The ability to read and process Delta Lake Tables...
271: Microsoft Fabric &.... Tableau?
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Taking a different take based on another great article by Kurt Buhler, the guys dive into the integration of not just the ability to use OneLake with ...
270: Mailbag Hot Takes (Part 2)
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for YOU! Thank you to all of our listeners and followers who give us awesome encouragement. In honor of all of you...
269: Data Projects or Data Products?
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss an article by Umesh Bhatt that challenges the norm around building our reports as projects and when does the project e...
268: Microsoft Ignite Reactions
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So - slightly HUGE announcements by the Microsoft team around Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and generally what we do on a daily basis. Mike, Seth, &...
267: System Oversight, Microsoft Fabric, & Power BI
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into System Oversight in the Adoption Roadmap. What it means, how much enablement, and how much protection in your tenant...
266: Managed Self Service in Power BI - The Implications?
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Managed Self Service in Power BI in Enterprise - Mike, Seth, & Tommy tackle the pressing questions around the balance of control and agility in BI...
265: Mailbag Hot Takes
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We had a ton of mailbags we needed to get off our chests! Quick Shots on the following: Can Data Warehouses and Reports Only Pull New Data Instead of ...
264: Low User Adoption Rate in Power BI & What To Do About It
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a post by Brent Dykes (Author of Effective Data Storytelling) focused on why BI works on the "set-and-forget&qu...
263: The Most Underrated Microsoft Features thus Far
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, we know that not everyone can do everything in Fabric (yet). But one thing we do know: There are over 20 tools in Fabric, and its hard to get on ...
262: Azure DevOps Pipelines & Git - The New World Order?
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy run through the major updates to Git, the Power BI Project type format, and everything in between. Have you utilized Git works...
261: Power BI Best Served HOT - Business Intelligence Point Of View (Part 1)
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy are diving into a 2 part series based on incredibly funny video by Mike Ebbers (Video link below). The background: Mike Ebbers...
260: How Do Microsoft Fabric Workspace Roles Change Planning?
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft Fabric and Workspaces. Mike, Seth, & Tommy have dived into this quite a bit already. However, what about the role based permissions in w...
259: How Important Is Star-Schema in Microsoft Fabric?
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since Analytical Models the star-schema design has been the cornerstone of reporting solutions, which was just enhanced and even more in Power BI. How...
258: Showing the Insights vs. Showing Off
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy delve into the intricate world of data visualization, inspired by the thought-provoking article "Showing the Insights vs....
257: PowerPoint & Power BI... Bridging the Gap
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have a great mailbag today! Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss the following question: I'm the chief cook and bottle washer in IT for Power BI in ...
256: The Outlook of Q&A & Understanding Linguistic Schema In Power BI
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy talk about the major updates to Q&A tooling in Power BI (September update) and how close we are to the ability to organiza...
255: Measuring Organizational BI Skills
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy ask if we can create a measurement system around BI skills? Can we actually scale and measure up the quality of our work, both...
254: SQL in the Age of Microsoft Fabric
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy contemplate where does SQL databases & SQL Server fit in this new age of Microsoft Fabric. Thanks to Sam Debruyn for a gre...
253: MAILBAG! Will Fabric Overwhelm the Business?
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an awesome mailbag question: When Microsoft added PBI desktop to O365 (Dynamic 365? Something 365) it was seen as s...
252: Data Strategist & Data Roles
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy share their experiences and thoughts around the new concept of the "data strategist" role and the importance either ...
251: Where Should we Use AI With BI?
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into how AI has changed their workflows in both from a personal and professional level - From BI discovery and meeting no...
250: How Much Data In a Fabric Lakehouse?
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Now that we are all familiar with a Fabric Lakehouse.... How much data should be integrated into it? Enough for 1 Power BI Dataset? Enough for 20? Get...
249: Jevon's Paradox & The Demand for Insights
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an incredible article on the threshold of data and AI. How does governance, insights, and the demand for Data when i...
248: Do We Design Workspaces Differently with Fabric?
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What has become a harsh truth is we need to reevaluate how we design and consider what a Workspace is when we are dealing with more than just datasets...
247: Working In Data Is Hard
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let's face it. What we do is not easy. But that is less to do with the technical aspect but more with how the data impacts communication. MIke, Se...
246: Knowledge, Wisdom, & Understanding
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss a more "squishy" topic focused on the BI's Pro ability to have empathy, the importance of and difference...
245: MAILBAG: Migrating from Laptop to Cloud
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy go through a mailbag on today's episode: Thank you for providing so much helpful Power BI information. My question - - h...
244: Companies are Failing to Be Data Driven
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy delve into the alarming findings of NewVantage Partners' 2019 Big Data and AI Executive Survey, which revealed that compan...
243: $100 To Invest In Microsoft Fabric?
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy take on owning Microsoft Fabric and breaking down their "Budget" and where would they put their hard earned cash for...
242: Thinking Outside the (Power BI) Box
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy breakdown another great article by Nicola Illic (Data Mozart) on alternatives and improving on the fly DAX queries and meeting...
241: Solving Data Problems With Business Problems
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are Business. We are also IT and Data... But what happens when we try to solve business problems with just technical expertise? Mike, Seth, & T...
240: Raising Awareness to What Power BI Can Do
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into the transformative power of Business Intelligence (BI) for organizations, exploring how Power BI can unveil hidden i...
239: Contextualized Insights In Power BI
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into another amazing article by Brent Dykes that are at the heart of why we visualize data in the first place - If we c...
238: The Essentiality of Tooltips in Power BI
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Guess what? Tooltips still exist in Power BI. Where do they rank, and how important? Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss just that. Get in touch: Send in...
237: A Data Storytellers Guide To Avoid Clutter
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ever heard of chartjunk? Hopefully by the end the of this episode you will never forget it. Great article for today's podcast: https://www.effect...
236: Move From SQL to Fabric OneLake?
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy weigh the pros and cons of transitioning from SQL databases to Fabric Lake Houses. They dive into the differences between the ...
235: The Root of All Problems Is Analytics
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, and Tommy shift their focus from Fabric and explore systematic thinking. They delve into the Theory of Constraints framework, which helps ...
234: The Perfect Data Analyst
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a great Data Analyst? We are taking a great bit of content from LinkedIn (post below) on what makes a perfect data analyst. Mike, Seth, &am...
233: Mailbag! How Much Detail in a Power BI Report?
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have a great mailbag topic today! The topic: How much level of detail should you put in your Power BI Reports? From audit information to verificati...
232: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Data Governance & Storytelling
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We found an amazing article by Harro Wiersma (article below) on what it means for what it means for governance and storytelling to influence each othe...
231: What is a Conceptual Data Model?
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On one of our favorite articles to date, the guys break down an awesome concept by Nikola Ilic on framing the business with conceptual data models. Th...
230: Microsoft Fabric & Domain Roles - Who Owns What?
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a part 2 of our conversation on who is going to own the data and the data engineering in Fabric - the business units or BI? Get in touch: Sen...
229: Domain Roles & Power BI
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The guys discuss how Fabric Domains effect the people and process (episode 225 was about the technology) and what has to be adjusted for teams. Get ...
228: Power BI Teams & Source Control (Git) Integration
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy follow up on what Git is and how it impacts Power BI to how it will impact teams, people, and entire processes. Buckle up, as ...
227: Microsoft Fabric & OneLake - Data Governance & Adoption
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A very HEATED conversation today on how Microsoft Fabric & Data Governance / Data Quality will play out. Great article too: https://ssbipolar.com/...
226: Fabric & Ensuring Separation of Capacities
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into what to expect from Fabric Capacities and usage moving forward. Resources & Links: https://learn.microsoft.co...
225: RIP Power BI Workspaces
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Move over Power BI Workspaces, make way for Fabric Domains.... Maybe? You may have heard about the new Fabric Domains feature which is a new way of gr...
224: Decision Guide with Fabric - Warehouse or Lakehouse
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Following up on our previous episode, the second Decision Guide article by Microsoft focuses on when to choose a data warehouse or a data lakehouse. ...
223: Decision Guide with Fabric - Data Ingestion
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're diving deep into the world of data processing with Microsoft Fabric and their data copy decision guide. This guide is a treasure trove of in...
222: Decision Guide with Fabric - Introduction
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy delve into the expansive possibilities of data management with #MicrosoftFabric. Now that Power BI Dataflows Gen2 have desinta...
221: OneLake & Direct Lake in Microsoft Fabric
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into the major features of Microsoft Fabric - OneLake & DirectLake. Why do these stand out and how integral are they ...
220: Git & Power BI
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With all of the amazing new announcements at Microsoft Build, one that may have escaped many Power BI developers in the ability to work with Git &...
219: Diving In With New Button Features in Power BI
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss how the recently updated Power BI Buttons and features change the way we build bookmarks and interactivity in Reports....
218: Hello Microsoft Fabric
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's all about Microsoft Fabric & Power BI at Microsoft Build. Enough said. Resources on Fabric: https://data-goblins.com/power-bi/fabric-anno...
217: Reusing Power Query Functions & Queries
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss a roadmap feature recently removed from the Power Platform Release Wave roadmap: The ability to save and curate a pers...
216: Do Power BI Pro's Need to Know Python?
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a potential new skill for all Power BI Pro's... Do we need to know the Python language as Data Analysts? With th...
215: Visual Enhancements - Title Divider & Subtitle in Power BI Visuals
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss the recently released visual feature added to Power BI titles: the ability to add a title divider and the subtitle. Ho...
214: Collaboration in the Data Exploration Journey
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss how important is, and will be collaboration in Power BI & data exploration moving forward. How do we identify who ...
213: Special Edition! Modeling On the Web with Microsoft's Emily Lisa
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special edition podcast! Mike, Seth, & Tommy interview Emily Lisa from Microsoft on the amazing, brand new modeling on the web feature n...
212: Why We Need Low-Code / No-Code Options for Data
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy break down an the influx of low-code / no-code options available for organizations and how this changes the data landscape. Fr...
211: Data Communication & Power BI
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an incredible concept / article by Kat Greenbook on what is Data Communication... 3 areas: To Discover To Inform ...
210: How to Dissect Someone Else's Power BI Report
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are breaking down a great video by EnterpriseDNA's Sam McKay focuses on complex reports with great style and understanding the techniques. Wha...
209: Conditional Formatting in Power BI - How Critical Is It?
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth & Tommy discuss the merits of using conditional formatting in Power BI reports and just what and how much of a impact they can make. Ca...
208: The Future of Business Intelligence Part 2 - Entering the Next Age of Data
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our episode today picks up right where we left off to finish this 2-part series based on Ryan Dolley's series of articles. If you missed part 1, c...
207: Storyframing And Storyforming - Two Essential Steps That Precede Data Storytelling
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you have had the chance to read the book Effective Data Storytelling by Brent Dykes, you are going to love this conversation today. Mike, Seth, &a...
206: The Future of Business Intelligence Part 1 - The End of Supply Chain Analytics
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an amazing two part series (part 2 is next week) on how BI has evolved and the hot take that we are exiting an era o...
205: Business Metrics, or Raising the Bar On Delivering Insight
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have an excellent article by Ben Watt, MVP, on how to incorporate, integrate, and build business metrics into our reports. Why are business metrics...
204: Options for Source Control In Power BI
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the announcement of TMDL and new deployment pipelines features, where do we go from here? Where does Source Control exist for Power BI Developers...
203: 'It Depends' - Best Practices & Optimization for Models
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a world of Best Practices and learning best practices for Power BI. It is ingrained in us and from documentation to learning. However, the ...
202: Defining What Success Is For Power BI Administrators
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, & Tommy have a spirted conversation focused on what the role of a Power BI Admin should encompass, what is in their scope, and what di...
201: What AI Knows About Data Visualization & Storytelling
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are diving into another amazing article that challenges what impact AI will have on the work of creating visuals and being able to create reports. ...
200: Discovering On-Object Editing in Power BI
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We made it to 200! And what better way to summarize why we love what we do is discuss a new game hanging feature to Power BI and how ALL developers wi...
199: Defining the Business Problem - Creating Measures From Scratch
25 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Who owns the metrics, the BI team or business? So often we are dealing with static, general data, but should Business Intelligence place a more active...
198: Dealing With Power BI Errors
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let's face it: We are all too familiar with some of the error notifications and icons in developing Power BI Models. From Power Query to DAX synta...
197: The Power Automate Visual - How Important Is It?
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mike, Seth, and Tommy discuss why the Power Automate visual in Power BI does not get enough love and what can make it essential to the developer's too...
196: Are Power BI Champions Integral to Adoption?
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We last discussed the role of Power BI Champions in episode 180, and continuing on this topic.... Just how important are they? Do Champions make or br...
195: Use Cases for New Updates to Paginated Reports
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The guys discuss some nifty new updates to Power BI paginated reports (in the service) and how they impact current projects. Create exportable paginat...
194: Has Business Intelligence Stalled?
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We love the community, and nothing else spurs conversation than an article like the following from Randy Bean: https://hbr.org/2023/01/has-progress-on...
193: How To Build Data Literacy In Your Company
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
192: Are Power BI Metrics & Scorecards A Must-Use Now?
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
191: Data Storytelling Is the Conduit for Modern Data Literacy
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
190: Do Power BI Reports Need to Be Beautiful?
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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, re...
189: The Manipulation of Data By Other Teams
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 modif...