I remember a time in my career when I mistakenly thought I knew statistics—really knew statistics. It was before I met Yanling Zuo, Michelle Paret, Eduardo Santiago, and a whole host of other statistical experts. I was a quality engineer, and I’d been applying statistics for years. I assumed that the ability to design and run an experiment meant that I understood design of experiments. I assumed that years of process control meant that I understood control charting. I assumed that I’d use this knowledge to jump on the “fast track” to technical stardom.

It does not, and I did not.

I, in fact, knew a lot about the application of statistics and whole lot about quality engineering and testing. I knew those things well, and I brought that knowledge with me to Minitab. But theoretical statistics? Nope. That I needed to learn once I got here. And the career path I ended up on? Let’s not talk about it.

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