Message of the Day - The Statistics Trap

Good Morning,

My current read is "Crush It!: Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your
Passion" by Gary Vay.ner.chuck
(http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/107300929/crush-it-why-now-is-the-time-to-ca
sh-in-on-your) which was recommended to me by Noah St. John, author of the
"Secret Code of Success". This book is full of energy and very down to
earth and simple ideas on how to turn your passions into a personal brand
and turn that into a profitable enterprise. The road to success is a road
full of hard work and passion, Gary makes no bones about putting in a lot of
time and effort into building you and your brand, but the roadmap is very
easy to follow.

I am eagerly looking to put this new information to work for me. You can now
follow me on Twitter, see my signature line.

One point which hit home was getting caught in a trap of following
statistics based on the numbers and findings (Gary was talking about using
web statistics to make decisions on running your business). When we measure
the productivity of anything, we often use statistics to guide how we move
forward and plan for the next move or how to react to a situation which
arises.

Statistics are often our friends and they do not lie. Unfortunately,
statistics also can be misleading and if interpreted incorrectly, can lead
us down the wrong path.

So how do we know if the stats are misleading?

Use the old gut check. What does your gut tell you about the situation?
Often our gut feeling or intuition will be more accurate to the situation at
hand then any statistics. Our gut feelings are based on years of experience.

Here's an example, I led a team of technical/software support agents. They
were able to handle 10% of the calls their received, 90% needed to be routed
software companies and other specialists. Statistically, it made sense to
focus their skills and training on the 90% of the calls they could not
handle and build better processes for them (i.e., run the team as a 'catch
and dispatch' group). My gut said don't do it, to 'focus on the 10%, and
make it more'. I directed my team to reach out to those we normally simply
routed call to and learn from them and document it. Then share the
information with each other. After eighteen months, the team could handle
over 50% of their calls and even more important, they added a lot of value
to the company and the customers. Most of my team members then went on into
management due to what they learned on my team.

Before you all go off and toss out your statistical management, realize that
in many cases the numbers do not give an accurate account of what is going
on, rather they give clues, but not the whole picture. There is often more
at play, and that is where the gut check will help out.

Numbers are good, but so are our gut feelings. Let's work them together to
do our best.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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