Data Driven Decision Making Is A Farce

In recent years, the explosion of data has been unprecedented; however, our decision-making, along with the managerial and social problems we face, has not improved even though tool and technology has improved—in fact, for many, it has worsened. The root cause? A significant educated and technocratic world clings to the misguided belief that data alone leads to better decisions.

Understanding and Data works together and make up system in itself.
With a solid grasp of a system, you often need no data at all. When you truly understand a system, you already know what's possible and what's not. Just as the laws of science inform us about the what's possible in physical world, the laws of systems can clarify what is feasible within a any systems including techno-social systems, of which modern corporations are perfect example of.

Data is useful in two situations:

1. It can help refute misunderstandings about systems, or
2. It can gauge the intensity of the forces driving a system, allowing us to predict how the system will behave if we do nothing and what might change if we intervene in specific ways.

Understanding saves us when data misguides us
Understanding involves explaining how a system works and why it functions in a particular way, while many management decisions most of the time merely seeks justifications.

It's time that before you seek data, question the understanding with which you seek data. That's hard. How can one know that understanding that make sense to them is correct or not? That has to be learnt.