Does The Data Have It?

I have always believed that data is key to successful executive decisionmaking—and that most executives make decisions based on data. But upon reflection, I recognize that’s simply wishful thinking. Executive teams of all types of organizations, particularly in the health and human service field, seem to navigate their strategic choices with limited data on their organizations or their market.

There are actually many styles of executive decisionmaking (see The 7 Styles of Decisionmaking), and data-driven decision making is just one. Some executives prefer collective reasoning, which is decisionmaking by consensus. Others take a “gut reaction” approach to . . .