Data Doesn't Convince, It Backs Up Your Beliefs
White shaded dots in a zoomed-in grid
Spoiler Alert! Data doesn’t drive transformation adventures or lead change. And my deepest apologies number-crunchers, it doesn’t change minds either. Blasphemous, I know. Data is VERY USEFUL, don’t get me wrong. I believe in it and use it. However, life in the organizational wild™ of which I write is emotional business. Charts and graphs (and the numbers behind them) say only what the designer wants them to say.
Data on all things doesn’t magically appear, even in today’s analytics age. A question must first be asked, and collection parameters set. Sample size and survey population are always factors we rarely consider but drive data’s relevance and reliability. Data can be skewed by the questions asked, collection methodology, and graphic representation. But even if it wasn’t or isn’t, it still would not, does not, cross the emotional divide that exists between someone’s beliefs and their perception of reality. It may certainly “till the soil” but it does not “plant the seed” of change, of growth, that can lead to transformation. No, my friends; the adventure is emotional, and it is very personal, and very private at first. New shoots on a plant are fed by the roots, so is transformation.
Data doesn’t become information, then knowledge, and form strategic insight, without being applied to, and integrated with, everything else we know and have experienced. And our fears are interwoven with all these things, whether we’re conscious of them or not. These are the kernels of hidden truth about ourselves that we keep tucked away, forming our blind spots. These fears can be planted in data-tilled soil to grow, or they can be tagged with the elephant in the room by a compassionate and courageous Elephant Hunter—allowing new insights to be planted instead. Are you ready for the adventure to begin?
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