Editor-in-Chief
Paul R. Gendreau, Jr.
Master Data Aficionado
LinkedIn Profile
These pages are about industriousness and fortitude in hope of achieving laziness. Someday.
No task is beneath me, but I go to extraordinary lengths to automate tedious data tasks. I’m also human, and humanly prone to error.
When I learn something — an everyday occurrence — then I write it down. When I make a mistake — another everyday occurrence — then I write that down too. I happen to enjoy writing code, so tedious or error-prone data tasks tend to be automated.
These life-long habits of writing words and code have consistently led to above-average effectiveness and productivity. Until now, the output was shared only with a close circle of SAP Master Data practitioners, whom I affectionately refer to as fellow Master Data Aficionados.
Master Data Aficionados are known to be simultaneously of good cheer and dead-serious about our craft. We speak of important matters, and formulate solutions to difficult questions, but insist that a sense of humor is essential whilst doing so.
If you detect parody, sarcasm, and unbridled enthusiasm while perusing content and applications on this site — meant to increase your SAP Master Data knowledge and productivity — then we’re succeeding.
I’m a Master Data Afficionado. What does that mean?
The answer came easily — at first — as I tried to explain the Master Data Aficionado logo on my screen to a
Spanish-speaking colleague. My friend from Barcelona was taken aback by my self-ascribed title.
Didn't I know that the word aficionado conveys the near opposite of an expert?
So off I rushed to https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aficionado, wondering if I was communicating.
The English definition describes a person who LIKES, KNOWS ABOUT, and APPRECIATES. Positive attributes, as intended.
Another source included WITH ENTHUSIASM. That certainly applies to every Master Data Aficionado that I’ve ever run across.
But the Spanish usage of the noun weighs in with FAN and AMATUER. Less flattering. No wonder my colleague's consternation.
Despite this, I won’t change the logo on my desktop, and I'll continue to claim the title.
We, as Master Data Aficionados, will forever remain amateurs in some respects. We learn and unlearn every day. It’s a humble life that we’ve chosen.
Just don’t let them see you sweat.
