Mabel Pines

Gravity Falls Inspired Profiles in Analytics

Our first Gravity Falls inspired profile will be Mabel Pines. She wouldn’t have it any other way! She is the star of the show in more ways than one, although she is not the most direct profile for an analyst. Mabel is more of a people person.

Optimism — a different perspective

Mabel Pines: My name’s Mabel.

Pacifica: That sounds like a fat old lady’s name.

Mabel Pines: I’ll take that as a compliment.

Mabel is a true optimist. It is an attribute that many analysts lack. Analysts tend to be more cynical or at best pragmatic. I wouldn’t advise most businesses to hire a department full of Mabels. She is a bit special, but that is part of her charm. She has a different perspective and that is a powerful attribute.

Mabel lives in a world of unicorns, rainbows, and ice cream cone trees. This is a most metaphoric component of the show but at times it is quite literal at times (for an animated series). It gives her a different take on both challenges and problems. It also empowers her with almost unrelenting positivism and persistence. Seriously, in one particular episode, she pounded her head against a pole for several weeks straight!

Analyst teams that have a Mabel or two will benefit from both components. Different perspectives will give you a new take on challenges and ideas. Just be careful to stop them after a day or two of head pounding!

I successfully bedazzled my face. Blink.

Presentation — showmanship and style

Mabel is a consummate and committed showman. This is a girl who bedazzled her own face! Much like her optimism, this is a skill or attribute that is often weak or missing among analyst communities. She has style and she loves to show it.

It is important to note — she is not really a salesman. Mabel doesn’t sell, she engages. She draws you in with her flair and enthusiasm. She also quite good at explanation and education. Mabel connects with anyone — town’s people, scientists, even roving bands of gnomes. She has charisma.

Every analyst team needs someone who can engage and educate an audience. Even if that person is not the optimist! Again, we are not talking salesman. While salesmanship is important — the Mabel-style analyst is more about style, engagement, and connection. We have another profile in mind for the sales aspects of your team!

Awareness — modeling others

While Mabel may not be the purest of analysts, her ability to model and understand others deserves high praise. It is a component of nearly every episode. Mabel often plays the role of match maker among the town’s people and with fairly positive outcomes. She has a true gift.

The ability to model others is a great skill for an analyst and a young girl trying to solve strange mysteries with her twin brother. It helps you communicate and negotiate. It helps you plan and predict. Even when you mistake a dozen-or-so gnomes stacked in a trench coat for a vampire, it is still based on the observation and awareness of key… if odd… behaviors.

Mabel is a true optimist, a showman, and has amazing awareness of others. Her altered perspective, unique style, and ability to model those around her is a strong set of assets that should be embraced by analyst teams. While your team is probably not trying to stop inter-dimensional villains or time-traveling giant babies, there are still many strong analogies to be drawn from Gravity Falls. Mabel was a great profile to begin this series.

In our opening article, we introduced you to the Abash cipher — a common technique from the show. A more common cipher technique from the series was Vigenere. It is a bit more difficult and requires a key — like say GRAVITY.

So just remember — SRBZTXYZJSKZBLQCEN

And — AGNZFMBOGPZZ

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