Limits to Analysis

“It’s the new Bloomberg Terminal! It’s a $25,000 installation
that tells me everything going on in the entire world!”
“Do you even know what’s going on outside your office door?”
— The News Room
Aaron Sorkin

“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.”
— Hard Times
Charles Dickens

There’s a seductive sense of omniscient arrogance about the analytics business and it’s oh so modern tools. We’ve begun to believe we have access to all knowledge (and all wisdom) with a few taps or key strokes.

From our perspective, that viewpoint may suffer from an institutional myopia. Yes, we have instant access to a great deal. Yes, there’s a lot out there to be scanned and circulated.

But… There’s also a lot going on that doesn’t find its way into or onto our networks. (As recent elections worldwide have painfully pointed out.)

• Where in the data does it tell you that the principal has developed cancer?
• Where in the data does it tell you that her daughter is gay?
• Where in the data does it tell you that her husband has a mistress and is planning to leave the marriage?
• Where in the data does it tell you that China has cornered the market on Lithium? (Or intends to…)
• Where in the data does it tell you that a principal is a kinesthetic communicator, who bases his decisions primarily on “Feel” and Chemistry?
• Where in the data does it tell you that the Leader resents being “Analyzed or Measured” at a distance? That our analytic process makes his skin crawl?
• Where in the data does it reveal that these voters are fed up, and long past the willingness to entertain yet another carefully crafted story?

So… Yes, nothing but the facts. But not all the facts are actually in Evidence.

To make the best of such a situation, sometimes we need to get out of the echo chamber and into the field, even if that makes us less than comfortable.

There are few things that can disarm a counterpart quite so well as a no tie, hands in pockets, “Aw shucks!” demeanor and an absence of attitude. “Tell me your story. What’s this place all about? What’s working for you? What isn’t? If I were coming to work here tomorrow, what would I have to understand? What haven’t I asked about? What do I need to know that I don’t?”

Not everything has been revealed just yet. But you might be able to get a few things to reveal themselves if you learned how to connect just a little more deeply with people, and you took the time to visit them in person.

Unfortunately, not all human motivation is about facts…

There are limits to analysis.

Applications

1. For You
Winning that negotiation for a cherry used car? Probably will have something to do with making the seller like you. “Charm” is not in the textbooks, but it sure speeds up human relations. Polish up your “Nice” skills and see how things move along…

2. For the Family
Things slowing down for the kids at school? Is a visit indicated? What about some no-electronics face time with the gifted child? Fishing maybe? Kite flying? What’s doing with your one and only love? Are things cooling off a little? What about a long walk, with no fitness objective?

3. For the Workplace
Are all the facts in evidence? Do you know it all? Or can you benefit by seeing one or many in person? No specific agenda… just a casual visit, with a few deft, low key but direct questions to find out what’s really going on. (You know they won’t tell you what you don’t want to know.) So you have to want to know everything! Even the stuff they’d prefer to leave out. (Making people feel safe telling you the hard stuff is one of those five-star leader skills.)

Not all the facts are ever in evidence and there are limits to analysis. But you can get a better handle on what’s really going on if you get out there and ask in person!

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