In the information-overloaded era, the cost of decision-making is increasingly high, so collecting data effectively and correctly is important for a company.

Instead of listening to the people who have the hunch, listening to the data is a more reliable way to help the company get the decision made. For instant, eBay, which spent millions dollars on advertising for many years, finds out the fact that most of their search engine advertising spending was wasted by the experiment its analysts ran. This example shows that the data comes from unbiased experiment is more reliable than the old experiences the management have. Undeniably, this kind of experiment will probably embarrasses senior managers by showing that their decisions are incorrect, but it is definitely worth the managers to do so because it will help the company to find the loophole and make improvements. In a word, reliable information is listenable.

References:

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Are you letting data drive your decisions?

Contributed to The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Sep. 29 2014, 7:00 PM EDT