Data and Insight for Sound Decision Making.

Buzz Delano

Principal Consultant, Delano Associates

It’s human nature for us to make split second decisions all day every day of our lives.  Whether it be what to reach for at a given moment, beginning a project or something more critical such as driving decisions to account for the road conditions and the other vehicles surrounding us.  Such decisions aren’t just anecdotal based choices rather they are a culmination of data points of past and current results and our intuition now. 

Sometimes we make decisions based purely on our own thoughts.  Sometimes these responses and decisions are made hoping for the convenience of an opinion-based answer to avoid a deeper discussion.  Well, that may be ok around the home or in social settings but for business, that’s another story.

How many times have you convened a group meeting and as it unfolds, the answers to questions you hear are often “I think” or “We should.” ?  Most of us do this by our human nature to bring our thoughts and experiences into the decision-making process.  That’s not good enough.  Business questions deserve the respect of answers comprised of data and insight.  Data is generally regarded as factual, statistical results of a series of actions over a period. 

Using Data is Insightful and Vice Versa

Knowing and referring to data when making business decisions is vital and leads to good decisions, even when, odd as this may sound, when the decision proves to be incorrect. How’s that?  We had the data, and we have insight on our business, customers and industry.  Well, if the decision was wrong, maybe it was the wrong data or it was incorrectly evaluated.  You can go back and analyze the data against the results of the new decision.  If you didn't use data, how would you go back and evaluate what went wrong? If the data was the right set, you can assess the insights applied.  Maybe the insight is misguided, outdated  perhaps, flawed.  Again, you can evaluate insight if you know what data it was applied to.

Salespeople are usually the folks most likely to rely on insight.  After all, their world is insight driven.  They have the insight to know who, how and when to talk to about making a sale or developing B2B business. It’s a vibe and is the jam for salespeople.  But when they are put in position to defend their insight, it’s likely to be emotional, anecdotal answers. If they were tuned in to data, the salesperson would command respect not only for their accomplishments but for knowing why.  Data is credibility. 

Meeting of The Minds

I have led team meetings for strategic and annual planning where some folks have all the data while others are lacking but are full of insight.  When I have encounter this, I always adjust the meeting so that the data can be shared along with some analysis with the insight team.  A good insight team will love this and bite into it, thus validating the data team for their diligence to provide a useful tool.  This brings teams together.  Both types of people are in your business and usually in every meeting and both types are valuable.  Make sure you put them together for best results.  Lather, Rinse. Repeat.

Having robust data and balanced insight is powerful for a business leader to recognize in their team.  If you are reading this and thinking “yup, agree and glad we do this” then good for you.  Keep it up.  Recognize your team for it.  Let them lead more.  If you are reading this and thinking “hmmm?”  or “yeah, we've got  data, we don't review it much or I’m not sure my team will want to hear it” you have missed a valuable opportunity.  They will want to hear it.  If they don’t, you probably have another issue to address!  Use the data as teaching moments. Even if the data shows shortcomings, make it about an opportunity to improve.  But always, always allow insight to think through and respond to the data.  That’s where the tasty bit comes for a business.  When your team values data and you value their insight, a great working environment is the result.  Collaboration ramps up.  Creativity abounds. Trust Builds. Trust Deepens.

What are your key data points for your business?  Do you share them with your team?  Where does the best insight come from in your business?  Let’s share some ideas on this here and learn from our peers.  The data points will differ from a manufacturer to an integrator, but it will be good for each to learn about the other.