Our insights friends got their own list. It seemed only fair to give analytics equal time. If you work with data for a living, some of these may feel familiar.

Splitting the check

Tax and tip, allocated by what each person actually ordered. The payment requests arrive before anyone has left the parking lot. Nobody has ever disputed one.

Grocery shopping

They read the price per ounce, not the price on the sticker. They also have a pretty good sense of which checkout line is going to move fastest, and they’re usually right.

Leaving for the airport

They’ve thought about security lines, traffic, and the walk to the gate. They build in a buffer that is exactly enough.

Spotting a misleading chart

When a chart on the news starts its axis somewhere other than zero, they notice before the anchor finishes the sentence. They usually keep it to themselves. Usually.

Fixing everyone’s spreadsheet

The family budget, the fantasy league, the school fundraiser sign-up. Somehow, they always end up being the person who gets the call. They quietly fix the formulas and never mention how it looked before.

Reading the weather forecast

They know what a 40 percent chance of rain actually means. They bring the umbrella anyway.

The fantasy league

They built a model. They don’t always win, but they can explain exactly why they lost, and there is usually a chart.

Holding back at dinner

When a relative says their neighbor drinks red wine every night and lived to 98, they nod politely and say nothing about sample size. This takes real discipline.

Automating small things

The recurring reminder, the smart thermostat schedule, a little script for a chore nobody asked them to automate. It saves four minutes a week. It took a weekend to build. Completely worth it.

Explaining it simply

This is the underrated one. The best analytics people can explain a complicated idea to a nine-year-old, a grandparent, or a CFO, and all three walk away understanding it.