HBR Guide to Critical Thinking

CHAPTER 10

Think Critically About Your Data

by Eric Haller and Greg Satell

Data has become central to how we run our businesses. After all, quantitative data helps us assess past occurrences, understand current performance, and make future predictions. Such hard evidence grounds our thinking and provides the information we need to assess a problem or situation.

But a big problem associated with this data is that numbers on a computer screen or report take on a special air of authority. Once data is pulled in through massive databases and analyzed through complex analytics software, we rarely ask where it came from, how it’s been modified, or whether it’s fit for the purpose intended.

To get useful answers from data, we can’t just take it at face ...