Replacing classic Coke with New Coke was a data-driven decision and it was a bad decision.
Data-driven decisions can be worse. Gaining an understanding of genetics and evolution led humans make some horrific ‘data-driven decisions,’ (e.g. eugenics).
There is a lot of distance between data and the decisions that folks claim are based on the data. For me, what happens in that distance is 10 – 1,000x more important than the data.
I see the use of the term ‘data-driven decision’ as a con.
It works. People seem to associate the term ‘data-driven decision’ with being scientific and being scientific is the noble pursuit of the truth.
So people seem to assume that someone who makes ‘data-driven decisions’ can be trusted to make the best decision based on the data available.
It even buys them some protection from accountability if it turns out to be a bad decision, “after all, it’s what the data told us to do.”
If you see me roll my eyes when someone says ‘data-driven decision,’ that’s why.
The next post talks more about the distance between the data and the decisions. We call that judgement.
Our Dinner Table 