I don’t have FOTA (Fear of Tech Advancement), and I have no problems with dashboards, metrics, or analytics. I do question the obsession with “data.” It troubles me how easy it is to forget that data isn’t supposed to think for us. Virtually every startup claims to be “data-driven” – as if sprinkling not-so-reliable numbers over poor decisions makes them look more brilliant. But the uncomfortable, scary truth is that data should be used as a valuable tool, not an all-knowing, all-saying oracle.
The role of data is to support our decisions, not replace them. I believe that confusing the two is one of the biggest errors of modern-day business. We’ve entered an era where decision makers hesitate to move without “the data.” It can even sound completely reasonable, rational, and scientific. But in reality, “Let’s wait for more data” really means “I’m afraid to use my judgment.”
There is almost a new cult of data-driven decision-making that has replaced intuition with inaction, and creativity with compliance. It’s the corporate equivalent of GPS dependency – blindly following the path even when it drives you into a lake. We’ve all had that experience of ending up in an empty field and saying, “But the GPS sent me here!” We all seem to have reached a near data paralysis.
There is no doubt that knowledge is powerful and data provides knowledge. It can uncover invisible patterns, expose biases, and validate (or destroy) our assumptions. But data is also quite limited. It can only reflect the world as it is measured, not as it exists.
As a researcher for half my career, I learned very early on that measured data is never pure. It’s contaminated by so many outside variables. We all unknowingly experience this and never even realize that your measurement of anything, can cause change. Imagine using a gauge to measure the air pressure in your car’s tires. That pressure gauge is very likely to release a small amount of air from a tire when you press it against the valve. That action alone alters the pressure it is trying to measure.
Researchers know that “to measure something is to change it.” How about when you count or track calories? The act of measuring your intake of food changes your behavior and tracks something that is impacted simply by your desire to measure changes. If you didn’t track it would your intake be different? The answer of course, is yes.
Look around and it won’t take long to find people who seem to worship data. They build entire strategies on last quarter’s numbers and charts. Many let AI models “recommend” who gets hired, who gets a loan, or where money will be invested. I fear that we believe the algorithms are 100% neutral, as if the model can erase normal, human bias. The result? A generation of decision-makers trained to outsource human thinking to AI and spreadsheets – all for the sake of saving time and the expense of paying a real person.
But here’s what so many forget: our human insight doesn’t come from data. It comes from people. Real people. Data might be able to tell you what happened. Maybe it can even come up with why. But deciding what to do about it and addressing real solutions, requires human values, experience, and context… all things no dataset on the planet can supply. You can feed a machine a billion data points, but it will never understand the role of a company’s culture which you worked so hard to develop. It doesn’t know about your customer’s quirks, or even your own moral compass. That’s your job and it can only be revealed by your own, human soul.
In relation to marketing, the data might tell you that click-through increase when you use fear-based messaging. Great! But now it leads your consumers to see your brand as a doomsday operation. What if in product design, data suggested users prefer simplicity, so you strip it all down until the app feels more like a child’s toy. What would iPhone or Android look like if it followed that very likely advise – because after all – we do all want simplicity. You can follow the data, but you may also lose the very heart of your vision.
I challenge today’s leaders in all categories, to use data as supporting evidence, not a substitute for thinking. The best CMOs know to ask the right questions before anything else. They know that metrics are conversation starters rather than verdicts. They’ll use the valuable intuition, experience, and empathy that got them to where they are, to interpret results rather than stand blindly behind them. They understand that sometimes the boldest move is to go against what the tide of data suggests, because they see something beyond what the data is even able to see.
My final point is a simple reminder that data isn’t the driver. It’s only the co-pilot. It helps us navigate, but it doesn’t choose our destination. The minute we start treating data or AI as the decision-maker, we’ve stopped leading and start following the numbers off a cliff.
We should never let AI decide what matters. We do!
Bob Lawrence writes weekly columns on radio leadership and business. He most recently served as market manager for MacDonald Broadcasting in Saginaw, Michigan. Throughout his career, Bob has held virtually every position in the business over his 40+ year career, from being on-air in Philadelphia, San Diego, and San Francisco to programming legendary stations including KHTR St. Louis, KITS Hot Hits and KIOI (K101) San Francisco to serving as the head of all programming for Saga Communications and working for the Radio Advertising Bureau. Before landing his current role, Bob helped lead Seven Mountains Media’s cluster in Parkersburg, WV/Marietta, OH. He can be reached by email at BGLawrence@me.com.
Bob also honed his research skills over ten years as Senior VP of Operations at Broadcast Architecture, eventually launching his own research company and serving as President/CEO of Pinnacle Media Worldwide for 15 years. Bob spent five years as VP of Programming for Saga Communications before joining New South Radio in Jackson, Mississippi as GM/Market Manager. Prior to joining Seven Mountains Media, Bob served as General Manager for the Radio Advertising Bureau, overseeing its “National Radio Talent System”.
