I don’t play golf, but I recently heard a golf-related anecdote I felt was worth sharing.

Prior to taking his shot, an avid golfer pulls out a fancy (and no doubt expensive) GPS unit and proceeds to calculate the exact distance to the hole. “Hmm. Is this accurate?”, he says, and then searches for the nearest distance marker as a quick calibration. After convincing himself he now knew the exact distance from his position to the hole, he began deliberating over which club to use. “Should I use the 6 or the 9?”, he asked his opponent.

Exasperated, his opponent said “you should just hit the ball!”

Finally, after selecting a club, the man walks over to his ball, waggles a bit, and swings. Pow! Straight into the trees and nowhere near the hole.

“You see! You should have just hit the ball. You’re not that good.”

Information Overkill

In this case, knowing the exact distance to the hole, or exactly the right club to use, made no difference to our golfer because he lacked the skill to consistently hit the ball in the intended direction. Instead of being concerned with high tech devices and the accuracy of his information, he would have been better served by practice – hitting the ball.

Personal Lesson

After hearing this story, I had to laugh at myself. When I decided to start this blog, one of the things I was sure of was that I would use web analytics and data to monitor its performance. I spent a lot of time making sure all of the technical aspects were in place. I created a Google Analytics account and added the java script tags. As I made tweaks to my site, I visited my analytics dashboard to make sure it was registering my activity. I then thought I should add filters on the IP addresses I normally use to access the blog so my activity doesn’t taint the results. Let’s see, there’s this computer, that computer, this work station I use sometimes, and what about my mobile device? Can I filter my phone from the analytics report? How do I identify my IP address? Do I need to contact my wireless provider?

I was really excited about the upcoming launch of my blog and was telling people about it. “Soon” I would answer when friends asked when the blog would be launched. Finally, my wife asked, “When are you going to post something?” It was then I realized my blog wasn’t going to ever be launched if I didn’t start actually doing the activity of blogging! I put my analytics activities on hold from that point and shifted focus to writing ideas.

Data Measures Performance…So Perform First

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the importance of using data to improve performance. This blog isn’t called “The Data Whisperer” for nothing! I just realize from the story of our golfer friend and from my own experience, that data – no matter how sophisticated and accurate – cannot improve performance that is not built on actions that are consistently and correctly executed. Focus on hitting the ball straight before you worry yourself with accurate distance data. Focus on generating content, attracting an audience and building community around ideas before you worry about the accuracy of your web analytics!

Just hit the ball!

Now it’s your turn. Can you recall a time when you got caught up with the accuracy of information before establishing the correct actions? What did you do to get back on track? Do you still need to get on track?

After experiencing some success implementing lean “Six Sigma” practices on their own, a manufacturer of audio cassette tapes called in some outside help to take their process improvements to the next level.  The consulting engineer was no stranger to this process and diligently went to work.  He observed the operation, consulted with key staff, and before long, mapped out his customer’s processes and completed his work with detailed documentation of the sources of waste and corrective action plans.  As he reviewed his findings, the engineer couldn’t help noticing his customer’s excitement at the potential efficiencies he would gain and the money he would save!  Finally, after reassuring his client the efficiency gains and money savings were real and attainable, he hesitantly asked…

• How does my organization provide value to its customers?
• How does the technology I provide or maintain directly benefit our customers?
• How can the technology I support or provide incresase the value provided to our customers?
• What technology would benefit our customers the most if only it existed?

The first step in mastering anything is to get a firm grasp of what the thing is. For this reason, I felt it would be fitting to begin this blog, which primarily deals with data, with a few definitions related to data.

Data

What is this thing we call data? We deal with it every day, but how do we define it? Wikipedia defines data as follows:

The term data means groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data (plural of “datum”, which is seldom used) are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge are derived.

For me, this definition is a good start, but I crave something simpler for a working definition. Data are facts about things that can be observed or measured, recorded outside of the context where they naturally occur. In other words, data are facts without context. Examples of data would be 120 pounds, $33.57, blue, or the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything when the ultimate question is unknown (if it is even knowable at all)!

One of the things I do like about the Wikipedia definition is that it states data are the basis from which information and knowledge are derived. This leads to another question. What is information?

Information

If data are facts taken out of context, and information is derived from data, then a definition of information is: data placed into context. But wait, the facts were already in context before we messed with them in the first place! Aren’t we just going in circles? Not really. By taking the facts out of context and then putting them into context we can assemble the data in many different ways to reveal relationships and interactions that may not have been visible in the original context.

Knowledge

Now that we have working definitions of data and information, what is knowledge? How is knowledge different from information? I found this concept to be a bit trickier and required a little more thought to come up with something satisfying. Information puts facts into context…when where how what why and by whom. How does information become knowledge? Since knowlege is something you know, information has to get into someone’s head before it can become knowledge. So perhaps we need to understand what it means to know something and then we can figure out how to structure information so it helps people achieve this state of knowing.

A friend of mine once made this statement to me about knowledge. He said “If you really know something, you can draw a picture of it.” As I contemplated this statement, my mind went to the whiteboard in my office and the many others like them in my coworkers offices. Each one had scribblings and visual representations of various concepts. I saw a lot of truth in what my friend was saying, but I would still refine the definition a bit. I would replace “draw a picture” with “model”. A drawing is only one type of model. While knowledge can be visually modeled in a diagram, map, or chart, it can also be modeled by a document, recipe or actions as well. A model – any type of model – serves to communicate knowledge from person to person. So, if information is to be transformed into knowledge, it must be assembled into a communicable model of something knowable.

Wisdom

If you’re fortunate enough to derive knowledge from data, the knowledge you gain is only as good as what you do with it. To me, wisdom is simply knowing and doing the right thing at the right time.

Summary

Data are facts out of context.
Information is data placed into context.
Information cannot be assembled directly into knowledge, but it can be assembled into a model to communicate something knowable.
Wisdom is knowing and doing the right thing at the right time.

Now it’s your turn. Which definition will be most useful to you in your life and work? Which definitions can be improved and how? Where did I totally miss the boat?

The best way to enter a swimming pool is to jump in, so Hello world! The Data Whisperer is now online!