Leadership and Marketing Insight from H. LEINER & CO.
There’s a big difference between data-driven decisions and data-informed decisions.
DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS: Use the data to completely determine the decision you will make, without inserting human thought into the process. The data is always correct, and the decision that is made solely by using the data is the path to take.
While data is an extremely important and valuable tool,
it is just that – a tool. It should be used to help and guide you, but you need to be in control of the tool. Instead of making data-driven decisions, make data-informed decisions!
DATA-INFORMED DECISIONS: Use the data as a helpful tool, but remember that you can and should override the data if your intuition and experience tells you that the data is missing something. A human brain thinks and understands information, so if your expertise in a certain field hints to you that a different decision should be made, don’t be scared to go against the data. Data should enhance our decision-making process by adding more variables and information into the mix, to make our decisions more advanced and more accurate, but not to take away our control of the decisions we make.
Use data to help you make your strategic decisions – that’s what it’s there for. Without this extremely valuable source of insight and information, you may not even know there’s a decision to be made. But remember that you control the data – don’t let the data control you!
(Forbes)
