Fostering Curiosity in Data Engineering — a Starburst Guest Post

In March 2023, I wrote a guest post for the Starburst blog — "6 ways to foster curiosity in data engineering and drive real results." It came out of something I've believed for a long time: you can't teach curiosity or force people to ask questions, but you can absolutely build an environment where curiosity thrives.

Why I Wrote It

After 30 years in technology — and at that point as CTO of El Toro, an adtech and advanced analytics firm — I'd seen what separates data teams that merely function from teams that discover. Curiosity is part of the human condition; the leader's job is to nurture that drive to question and explore. One of the reasons I became a big fan of Starburst is that it gives teams the freedom to be curious — and this post was my attempt to share the practices that make that freedom real.

The Six Ways

The post walks through six practices, each grounded in what I actually did with my own teams: make exploration easy (interactive visualizations, no fear of sharing ideas), promote continuous learning (training, mentorship, diverse perspectives), don't shame failure — "I'm a professional screw-up," as I put it — and three more that get into how you sustain a culture of inquiry as the organization scales.

The piece is still live on the Starburst blog if you want the full version. It's one of the pieces I'm most proud of from that era — it's about how you build teams that keep asking better questions.

Think this argument fits your event? Tell me about the room — the calendar is selective.