“There were five exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days.”
— Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman at Google
We are inundated with data these days. It comes at us from all points of the compass, and it’s available instantaneously. Yet despite having access to all this data, our decisions aren’t necessarily better or easier.
For leaders, data can be a trap. We often believe that if we can amass enough data, we will make better decisions. But there are three facts that undermine that belief:
- We can never amass enough data.
- And even if we could, data is not the same as information; facts and figures aren’t insights.
- And even if they were, data would only address part of the equation necessary for making a decision.
That last point is important when our decisions involve humans. And don’t they all? At the very least, they involve ourselves.
There are two parts of the decision equation: Intellectual and Emotional. As humans, we think and feel. And data alone only addresses the Intellectual part of the equation.
People don’t fit neatly into spreadsheets and data analytics. We are predictably unpredictable, rationally irrational and consistently inconsistent. When decision-makers only address the Intellectual, they often miss the Emotional. And there is ample evidence to suggest that—even when we think we’re being intellectual—we often let Emotions drive our decisions.
So it makes sense for leaders to consider the Emotional when making a decision. But emotions can appear squishy, and our fear of those zany emotions can drive us into the arms of data alone. The siren song of the Intellectual is that if we can simply gather enough data, we can think our way to the perfect decision.
That belief is built on some very shaky foundations. The first is that the “perfect decision” exists. The second is that there is data out there that will allow us to discover that illusory “perfect decision”; we simply have to search until we find it.
The problem is that time is a factor. The time we spend searching for the perfect decision means we aren’t implementing any decision.”
The Emotional often lies in our Unconscious, which can slow down our ability to make decisions. One example is the fear of being wrong, one of Fritz Kunkel’s Four Fatal Fears that all of us can fall victim to. Of course, the easiest way to avoid being wrong is to simply not make a decision. Thus the “perfect decision is out there” rationalization.
But as Voltaire said, “The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good.” A good decision made and acted upon now is better than delaying a decision until data reveals the “perfect decision…” which if it did exist, is tethered inextricably to a point in time, and may not remain perfect for long.
And as Eric Schmidt points out, there is always more data, and some of the time and energy we use to gather data and seek the “perfect decision” could be better utilized to make and implement a good decision.
It’s important to recognize that Leaders have to both think their way to a decision and feel their way to a decision. Using both the Intellectual and Emotional allows us to gather and assess data, but also to overcome our fear of being wrong and make the decision. Having 70% of the information and making a decision provides the time and energy to make another decision when necessary.
And there will always be more decisions to make. As Mark Twain said, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
Great leaders use their heads and their hearts. They think and feel when facing a decision, and they use both to act decisively and move their organizations forward.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
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Ronn Lehmann advises organizations and leaders on the human factors that determine their culture. Lehmann developed the Cultural Audit Process, which is designed to provide an outside perspective of an organization’s culture: what’s important, what’s rewarded and punished, what the rules are, and how people “show up.”