STREET DOGS

If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. — Jim Barksdale

There are limits to data and some people rely on it too heavily.

Analysing it correctly is difficult, and it is dangerous to assume you always know what it means.

It is very easy to find patterns in data. Instead, I prefer to think of data as one way of seeing, one of many tools we can use, to look for what’s hidden.

If we think data alone provides answers, then we have misapplied the tool. It is important to get this right.

Some people swing to the extremes of either having no interest in the data or believing that the facts of measurement alone should drive our management. Either can lead to false conclusions.

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure” is a maxim that is taught by many in the business and education sectors.

But in fact, the phrase is ridiculous — something said by people who are unaware of how much is hidden.

A large portion of what we manage can’t be measured, and not realising this has unintended consequences.

The problem comes when people think the data paints a full picture, leading them to ignore what they can’t see.

Here’s my approach: measure what you can, evaluate what you measure, and appreciate that you cannot measure in the vast majority of what you do.

And at least every once in a while, make time to take a step back and think about what you are doing. — Ed Catmull

The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight. — Carly Fiorina

[So] invite your Data Science team to ask questions and assume any system, rule, or way of doing things is open to further consideration. — Damian Mingle