Paralyzing Data

Wow, I could spend two weeks on this subject.  This material overlaps with one of our previous subjects, although I can't remember which one in particular (and I'm too lazy to look back and find out).

In my 23 years in the Navy I've grown increasingly frustrated with day-to-day life in the Navy and you can tie a lot of that frustration to "big data."  The proliferation of information in the form of data is paralyzing my Navy.  We spend our lives in the defense of our nation collecting and presenting data.  It's maddening, because every presentation of data simply results in identifying the need for even more data.

I'm not saying data is useless.  But as you alluded to, Ed, data isn't the end all.  At some point you have to make a decision, and you can't rely solely on data.  If you make any decision solely on data you are managing, not leading.  How about intuition?  I'm seeing a common trait in many of our military leaders these days: "If I just had a little more data I could make a better decision."  It drives me crazy, because in many instances it's a cop out.  You are a COMMANDING OFFICER for God's sake - make a decision!  Andrew Mason, who was fired last month as the CEO of Groupon, said this in his farewell email to the company:  "My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what's best for our customers."  Big data did him wrong.  But data didn't get fired.  He did.

I've shared this quote by General Patton before and I think it applies here:  "A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."  That would mean making a decision and executing a plan prior to waiting for the big data.

Here is another, this time from Theodore Roosevelt:  "In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."  Don't let the data paralyze you.

I know this was a quick post, and I'm not spending the time to support all my assumptions, but we have become a Navy of data for the sake of data.  As leaders, we spend all of our time gathering data, presenting data, reviewing data...  and what gets lost is the more important leadership responsibilities of casting vision, strategic planning, etc.

The point where data goes beyond helpful and becomes obstructive is very difficult to identify, I'll admit that.  But what your companies and my Navy needs is strong leadership, NOT more data management.