Fifteen years ago, updating a website required knowledge of HTML. Now, many content management systems like WordPress, Tumblr and Joomla merely require knowledge of WYSIWYG tools like Microsoft Word.

So, will the same thing happen with big data?

I hesitate to say that everyone will need to learn data-related skills. I doubt that cooks, maids or barbers will have to learn about non-relational data. Maybe CEOs in the future will continue to delegate and rely upon the insights of those below them.

In the corporate world, dataphobes will always exist, for better or worse. Think of the small business owner who likes to run her company the way she’s always run it, never mind that the world has changed. Consider the CXO who relies far too much on his gut instincts. Color me a skeptic, but there’s not much hope of convincing these folks that they need to change their ways.

On the positive side, data resistance seems to be waning, at least a little bit. People are expecting data to be visualized, and not just in the workplace – and I'm hardly the only one who thinks so. Clive Thompson writes about the increased emphasis on dataviz in our daily lives in his excellent new book Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better.

I noticed the same thing while researching writing The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions. Data is becoming the lingua franca of our times. Every day, more people consult data to make decisions and ask better questions.

Simon says: Embrace the language of data

In a veritable sea of data, it's not just fair to ask the question, "Where to begin?" Increasingly, speaking the language of data and dataviz are becoming imperative.

For those who think that understanding and speaking data are ephemeral trends, think again. Wearable technology and the Internet of Things are coming – and soon. Get used to speaking in data. Most knowledge workers will have to follow, lead or get out of the way.

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