365QOD-Day1085

Measuring the Right Things

“Are you measuring the right thing? “- Steven J. Thompson

Our worlds are full of data.  It is only going to get worse.  With smaller and smaller sensors and cheaper and cheaper storage, we will have more and more access to all kinds of data.  The conversion from data to information is the next level. Even though this conversion is critical to improving it is often not done or done effectively effectively.  So we just collect data and do nothing with it/

So if we are collecting data and not obtaining useful information from it, then why bother collecting it in the first place.  Steven also teaches us that, “In almost any data-gathering situation, there are far more types of information that could be gathered than you can possibly tackle. Compare the contradictory claims that U.S. wireless phone providers make for their network coverage. No one's lying--they're all just picking different aspects of coverage to measure.”

In other words we might diligently collect the wrong data.  As the example illustrates, even if we did obtain information from it, the information would lead us to the wrong conclusion.  This is worthless!

We would be better off if we  make sure we are measuring the right thing and then forcing ourselves to extract information.  This would minimize the effort and storage, and maximize the understanding of the results.

Today’s question is”

“How do you know you are measuring the right thing?”