I’ve recently switched from using the phrase “data-driven” to “data-informed” instead, mostly because people I talk seem to have bad connotations associated with the former.
This is weird!
I now have to say “I want to be data-informed” in order to communicate my goals.
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I suppose one benefit of switching to “data informed” is that it makes it very clear what my prior state was: that is, I made most of my decisions uninformed by data.
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Yea. Data always describes the past. Even forecasts describe a future assumed to be similar to the past. “Data-driven” has become one of those meaningless terms because of how people put data on a pedestal. They worship it and think it solves all their decision-making problems.
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Quite enjoyed this piece:
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Do you have any specific insight into where the bad connotations came from?
What bad experiences have people had around data as it relates to decision-making?
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one problem with "data-driven" decisionmaking is when it assumes (especially implicitly) that the data will somehow speak for itself.
i wrote a bit about why this is problematic in the context of management research, but i think it generalises:
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i prefer data-informed because it implies having [a point of view which is conditioned and updated by explicitly interpreting data] instead of [a point of view that consists of data]
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After reading this, I think maybe people don’t want their conclusions proven wrong or face people using data to defend their pet conclusions
twitter.com/michael_nielse
The phrase “data informed” has yet to trigger this effect
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This entire essay by Kahneman - on how beliefs change (or don't) in response to evidence - is fascinating. edge.org/adversarial-co
The screenshot is a fun excerpt, but the entire piece is much deeper.
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