Data-centric decision making

There is much evidence that data-centric decisions are better than decisions based on intuition. From time to time in the comments section of this blog a little tussle breaks out over whether the head or heart should rule in business. Needless to say I come down on the side of head. However, I’ve not been presenting much evidence.

So I have decided to do my own study. For 30 work-days I will live a data-centric life. I will make as many of my decisions as possible will be based on as much data as I can reasonably gather.

As far as I am able, I will make each and every decision based on data. I will record what those decisions were, what data I used in my decision making process, and how good I felt the decisions turned out.

I fully expect to be slowed down by this way of working – I will by living the Toyota Way – at tortoise rather than hare speed. I will be fascinated to see whether I can actually manage a whole month, and whether I judge my decisions to be better or worse as a result.

Decisions I will include are:

1. What to buy (impulse purchases are out, considered data-centric decisions are in – this one is going to be tough!)
2. What to work on, and for how long (based on plans and past data)
3. Work-based decisions (allocating budget, changing suppliers, etc)
4. Project-based decisions (looking at past projects and outside studies)
5. Whether to accept a call or e-mail interruption in the middle of a task (I’m sure it’s more efficient to work straight through on a task, but don’t have any evidence on this)
6. When to take a break and for how long

I will keep a log and the data or evidence I use to support my decisions. I will also review regularly and post something once a week to let you know how it’s going.

No doubt I will have less data than I would like about some decisions, but maybe I will have too much. I won’t know until I try.

So for all those who have read The Year of Living Biblically – this is The Month of Living Data-Centrically. Not so catchy, but without the scratchy clothing and hopefully better for business…