Ditch Data Driven, Become Data Aware

On Being Data Aware

An interesting debate recently raged between myself and a wise client on my advice to his group about becoming a more “data driven organization”. On one side is the dream of having and using our treasure troves of information to make amazing discoveries and decisions. On the other side is the messiness that comes with the limits of time, absence of information and our human decision bias. His point? It’s a pipe dream.

My conclusion? I now say “aim for being Data Aware.” 

While this stance prompted my friend to throw my favorite Deming quote back in my face, “In God we trust, all others bring data.”, I’m refining my mantra of being Data Driven. The reason? It suggests that all decisions can be purely data driven and that’s not a realistic stance to take if you’re trying to get things done.

Story time. 

Years ago I was visiting with a friend who has uncanny success in business. At this point he is a 5 hit wonder. My question was, “How?” and his response is worth noting when thinking about data driven vs data aware decisions.

He attributed his success to his willingness to make a decision based on less information than his peers. Mind you, his peers are whip-smart, top of the class, Wall Street types that do not suffer fools easily. He was telling me and still tells me that he can process data as fast as most of his peers and what sets him apart is his willingness to make a decision and take action on less information, but he was clear on one point – it was more than gut feel.

In my attempt to put lessons like these into action, I default to taking action but being aware of decisions made without the benefit of data.

Back to my favorite quote, “In God we trust, all others bring data”. Use it to identify those decision points that arrive without the benefit of data. They’re easy to identify because they  start with statements like “Our customers want. . .” or “Prospects want. . .” When you ask “Is that direct from a specific customer/prospect?” and there is no data behind it, that’s where I’m saying you should look for data before taking action.

Data aware. 

It’s more descriptive of the approach I’m advocating than Data Driven. Client 1, Greg 0.

Modified. Standardized. Good for another year. Be Data Aware.

Good stuff.