How to Lead, 5th Edition

Chapter 35

Work the numbers

Managers use statistics the same way drunks use lampposts – for support, not illumination. Numbers are armies of facts that can be marshalled in support of a business case. Numbers are rarely objective; they can all be spun and manipulated. Politicians know this better than anyone

The numbers game finds its apotheosis in the spreadsheet. In the days before spreadsheets, senior managers could terrorise junior managers by checking their calculations. The senior manager would quickly add up a few columns or rows and if the number did not come to 100, the inquisition would start. Spreadsheets have destroyed this form of terror. Numeracy is no longer necessary to be very good at analysing spreadsheets. Most spreadsheets ...