No matter what we do, today the bottom line is always DATA!!
Data is now the fuel that drives EVERYTHING. Good, bad, or indifferent, if you are alive, you are engaged in DATA. We don’t make a move without it. How can a decision be made without data? With rare exception, it doesn’t happen. There was a time, as a business owner, when I made important decisions every single day. Many of them were based on my gut instincts. I was always careful to take into consideration the circumstances and the criteria. I would factor in who or what I was dealing with, and I was able to make a solid decision. There were ‘reports’ to review that helped, but I relied on myself, and for the most part, it always worked.
Technology continues to rebuild, redesign, shift, and streamline processes, and with that comes DATA. When I was a young man, we called it information, but today it’s DATA.
Once you begin to utilize the data, it can add clarity. We begin to rely on it. Data forces us to recognize what the numbers represent and how best to identify not just problems, but more importantly solutions. I love data. I just hate managing it.
My issue with data is my own data bank…..My ability to remember, my recall, my retention, MY MEMORY. There are years and years of STUFF in my data bank and only so much room for more ‘stuff’.
My databank fills up, and then what? I can barely remember why I was walking into a room to get something, and by the time I enter that room, ‘poof’ like a prevailing wind, that data point is gone. As much as I hate to admit it, I know, at my age, it’s common, it’s typical and to be expected. It’s frustrating. Data is a constant reminder just how bad my memory is.
