One of the issues in data collection is how we use it. I have always prescribed that data is used as an aid to decision making, but all too often is used as a method of control and apportioning blame.
A recent report on the use of, and future direction for, data in the US cultural industry (don’t let that put you off, there’s a lot to learn from it even for commercial organisations) identified 6 factors that influence the gathering and collection if data and provide some preliminary suggestions for making better use of data. All make sense, but, as you might expect, the one that grabbed my attention was:
“Shift the conversation from data’s value as an accountability tool to data’s value as a decision-making tool.”
But As Barry Hessenius comments in his blog on the report:
“The question that always looms is “how”? How do you refocus all the data, research, information and input that is out there from being merely a tool to prove, after the fact, that a given program, project or approach has met its objective to information that informs decision making in the first place?”
An excellent question indeed.
I’d be interested in hearing how you approach this in your organisation, leave a comment.
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