Data Worship
The dashboard says green. The team says drowning. Which one do you believe?
“What does the data say?” has become the highest form of organisational prayer. No decision moves without a dashboard blessing.
W. Edwards Deming, the godfather of data-driven quality, warned against exactly this: “The most important things cannot be measured.” Employee trust. Team morale. Creative energy. The willingness to speak up in a meeting. None of these fit a KPI.
The dashboard says green. The team says drowning. Data worship means believing the dashboard.
Data is a lantern, not a compass. It illuminates what is measurable. It says nothing about what matters most. The best leaders use data to inform judgement, not replace it.
SOURCE Intelligence