How to Make Decisions without the Data
Let’s talk about data.
First of all, I love it. I’ve been using scorecards to track business performance since I was 20 years old.
I review a robust financial reporting package every month.
I’ve pushed my team to slice and dice our available data a hundred different ways. We know our CAC, our churn rate, our billing by consultant, and many, many other metrics.
When you can get data, it helps you make better decisions.
What happens when you can’t?
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The thing about data is: it always has a price.
You’ve got to pay for software, or a consultant, or your team’s time, to get the information you need.
Is it worth it? Maybe.
I’d spend $15K to get the information I need on a decision that could make or break my business.
But honestly—I wouldn’t spend $500K.
Neither would you, in all likelihood. It’s not practical. It’s not realistic.
The thing about data is that just because you could, theoretically get it doesn’t mean you will, practically speaking, actually get it. Sometimes the cost, in time or money or even headache, is too high.
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That’s when data can become a trap. A lack of it paralyzes you from moving forward.
You think “We should get this information before we decide.” But you won’t get that information.
Not today, not tomorrow. Possibly not ever.
Yet you keep putting off the decision, hoping that the information you need will magically appear. Hoping that you’ll get validation that you are 100% making the right choice.
It won’t. You won’t.
That is, for the record, totally okay. And that’s when you need to rely on your gut to bridge the gap. It’s what CEOs get paid to do—when necessary, take calculated risks.
If I am 80% sure I’m right about a decision, I generally go with it. I don’t have the time or the money for the peace of mind that comes from assuaging the 20% that’s unknown.
I would like to have all the data 100% of the time.
But when I can’t practically get as much data as I want, I choose to move forward.
Because one way to know for sure if something works?
Try it.
