Are you getting crushed under an avalanche of “Big Data”? Are you finding that you have more information but fewer insights? Do you feel like you spend more time looking at numbers than making sense of them? If so, you are not alone.
The emergence of “Big Data” has created a lot of “Big Stress”. You’re told that you are supposed to be using data more effectively. But, you can’t seem to get out from under the numbers. You hear stories about the amazing breakthroughs and insights that everyone else seems to be having. Yet, it’s not working for you.
The problem is that many leaders are still approaching “Big Data” with a small data mindset. That doesn’t work. We need a new approach to working with data more effectively and efficiently. Here are eight simple rules to help you navigate a world of ubiquitous, voluminous, and dynamic data.
Computers ‘crunch’ numbers, people ‘crunch meaning – Data can tell you what was, what is, and even what might be but only a person can determine whether that matters. If you are spending more time thinking about, discussing, or presenting numbers as opposed to the implication of those numbers you’re missing an opportunity. Let the computer worry about the numbers. You need to figure out what they mean.
The more you look at (at one time), the more you miss – The research is clear. We are horrible multi-taskers. Your conscious brain can only deal with one thing at a time. When confronted with more than one thing, your unconscious mind takes over and starts making decisions about what information to ignore, what information to “fill-in”, and what information to distort. You are more likely to miss an issue on a spreadsheet with 200 cells than you are on one with five cells. Pare down your reports. Instead of having a small number of large reports (that try to answer every question), create a large number of small, focused reports. You’ll miss less and make more progress.
Your boss doesn’t want numbers, he or she wants answers – You don’t manage numbers. Neither does your boss. You manage issues, risks, opportunities, people, products, processes, technology, and ideas. So why do you keep talking to your boss about numbers? Numbers should support the conversation, not be the conversation.
The story in the data is always incomplete – A report is like a window in your house. It lets you see a portion of your world. You wouldn’t generalize about the day’s weather or the amount of rush hour traffic solely based on what you see out of your window. So stop doing that with your reports. A report is a discrete snapshot of your business. It’s your job to understand how that snapshot informs the broader story of your business. The story is not in the data, the data is part of the story.
Your boss needs a prosecutor, not a mystery writer – Mystery writers wait until the end of their novels to reveal the answer. That’s a fantastic technique for creating suspense and entertaining. Your boss doesn’t want to be kept in suspense or entertained. Neither do your peers, your customers, your team, or your business partners. Become a prosecutor. Make your argument and then lay out your case (with data). It will drive more effective decision-making, and more importantly, it will give people what they wanted in the first place, an answer to their question.
Not all of the data that are related to a problem are relevant to the solving problem – Technology allows us to capture a lot more information about something or someone in a much more fluid and dynamic way. However, just as a doctor doesn’t send you for an MRI to diagnose a cold, you don’t have to gather every conceivable data point on a topic to make a decision. The first step in reducing the amount of data with which you interact is figuring out which pieces are actually relevant to your decision.
It’s easy to get lost when you don’t have directions – You wouldn’t cross the ocean without a compass, map, and destination to guide your way. Yet, we constantly wade into a sea of data with no idea of what we are trying to find. It’s hard to find an answer when you don’t have a question. Stop reading reports like books (top to bottom, left to right). Instead, guide you data exploration with a question, a hypothesis, or a decision. Doing so will enable you to navigate your reports much faster and much more effectively.
People don’t read reports for the numbers – When was the last time you looked at report with the question, “I wonder what the value of X is today”? It’s probably been a while. However, you probably looked at your reports wondering if you were on target, or if your performance was improving or getting worse. But ironically, the report doesn’t often tell you that, it just gives the numbers (or maybe a cute color coding). You have to figure the answer out for yourself by comparing the numbers. While that’s not a difficult task, it’s unnecessary. Instead of organizing reports around numbers, why not organize them around decisions. If you want to know which sales people are beating their targets, have a heading called “Sales people beating their targets” and list them. You can also have a heading called “Sales people missing their targets” with the appropriate names listed below. You don’t need all of the numbers. You just need the answers. Once you find what you are looking for, you can always drill down to see the specifics.
Working in a world that is awash in data requires finding ways to navigate and cut through the noise. Adopting these new rules for rethinking data will make you a more efficient and effective data-driven decision maker.
For more help, check out our Rethinking Data workshop where we’ll teach you how to apply these rules in your day-to-day work.
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Brad Kolar is an executive consultant, speaker, and author. He can be reached at brad.kolar@kolarassociates.com.
