Friday, May 4, 2012

Data-Driven vs Data-Fueled



Government Executive arrives, with the phrase "Data Driven" prominently featured on the cover.

Sadness. 

His preferred term, Data-Fueled, as in Data-Fueled Decision-Making, has yet to catch on. 

Unbowed, he approaches the soap-box yet again.

                              Data-Drivenvs.                              Data-Fueled
- All about numbers+ All about results
- No Child Left Behind+ Race to the Top
- Lean Six Sigma for L6s's sake+ Project selection and portfolio management
- National Security Personnel System (NSPS)+ Human Capital Development
- Spyware, robocalls, privacy violations+ Targeted ads, timely information, eHarmony
- We live in a computer simulation+ Numbers enable transparency and auditability
- Surrender to The Borg
+ Use the Matrix

Data-Driven is about reacting to the numbers, searching through the numbers for meaning, like a prophet might sift through the entrails of a gored ox before advising his King. More ox guts, please! Piles and piles of ox guts! I cannot see the future for lack of ox guts!

Data-Fueled is about satisfying an appetite for facts, but not just objective facts. Ideas and values are still important. The Singularity is still a few years off. Data-Fueled Decision-Making is about using numbers to add meaning to our current definition of Truth.

Related posts:
http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2012/02/improvement-process.html
http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2012/04/results-reflect-values.html
http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2012/03/vft-redux.html

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