Achieving a Data-informed Mindset
Maximizing Your ability to Make Decisions With Data
One of Amazon’s 14 Leadership Principles is to “Dive Deep” and to remain skeptical until you can validate an opinion with data. We are best served (in life and in our jobs) when we make decisions based on data. If you can’t quantify it, it’s hard to leave your implicit bias out of the decisions (our implicit bias is often in our blind spot).
But, even when you base decisions on data, are you sure you are using the right data? Are you sure you are asking the right questions of the data? Are you sure you are challenging any assumptions you have with the data? Are you sure you have enough context from the data to ensure it is not telling you only part of the story?
Data literacy is more about obtaining a new mindset than anything else. Sure, there are tools and technologies that will make us more data literate. And those are critical. But, we are in need of a mindshift as we transition from the information age to the knowledge age. In the information age, many have the belief that some data is better than none. In reality, some data can be very harmful. Here are just a few examples from Utopia Global where incomplete data, or data without the right context, negatively impacted things.
As we move to the knowledge age, we need to think critically about data and information. We need to understand what data is relevant and what it is not. We need to learn how to interpret the results to avoid any implicit bias. Data needs to become a native language. If someone says something we think is incorrect or misleading, we typically question it. But, when we present data, we do not all have a mindset yet to know how to challenge it, or even have the desire to challenge it. We naively treat it as a truth.
So, how can we best achieve this new mindset? We need to learn not only the right data and analytic best practices, and to leverage the right tools and technologies, but we also need to have a data-informed mindset that shifts us from just looking for data and information to looking for insights and knowledge. This requires to have not just the ability to use the right tools and technologies, but also education on the right soft skills like challenging assumptions, critical thinking, and the ability to mitigate any implicit bias.
To help take your firsts steps on your journey to making data-informed decisions, Qlik is proud to launch the first-ever educational course that covers all these topics in a cohesive fashion: data and analytic strategies, data literacy, and implementing all this using Qlik Sense. This 15-week blended course combines recorded lectures, weekly 60-minute, live instructor-led sessions, hands-on activities, and much more to guide you on your mindset shift.
To quote one of our pilot students, this course has “opened up my mind and I want to continue on this journey. The critical aspects of being able to systematically approach problems with the right set of questions, being open in the analysis phase, understanding our own biases, and how to most effectively communicate a story were some of the major takeaways that I want to continue to practice EVERY DAY! “
Interested in learning more? Take a look at the course datasheet. Interested in registering? Visit our registration site to see available classes.
