Decision Without Data Are Just Guesses

Decisions, decisions!

When you face a choice, you can rely on your gut. You can flip a coin. Or, you can do something more effective.

The decision making process needs to be guided by real information that is based on some kind of reliable information. Otherwise, you are only guessing.

Data gives the decision making process something that leads the choices toward the possibility of a good outcome. If you base your decisions on anything less than real information, you are essentially just guessing. A decision based on a hunch that does not grow out of observations and experiences may as well be decided by a dice roll or coin toss.

Decision-making occurs everywhere. In business. In education. In careers. In relationships.

All decisions need to emerge from the reality of the situation. In business, what the customer wants or needs needs to be associated with what is already in the market and what the business has to offer. This is just an example of how the reality of the situation directs the decisions. Just because a business owner thinks people will like blue is not sufficient for developing a product line.

Without data, the decision making process is hindered. Before you start into something new or before you abandon something you've been doing, make sure you have a clear picture of what has been and what is. Use that to predict what might be.

Then, you are doing more than just guessing!