Sustained\u00a0improvement only follows from effective actions; which\u00a0follow from well-informed\u00a0decisions –\u00a0not\u00a0from blind guessing.\u00a0\u00a0A well-informed decision imples good information – and good information is not\u00a0just good data.\u00a0Good information\u00a0implies that\u00a0good data is presented in a format that\u00a0is both undistorted and meaningful to the recipient.\u00a0\u00a0How we present data\u00a0is, in my experience,\u00a0one of the weakest links in the improvement process.\u00a0\u00a0We rarely see data presented in a clear, undistorted, and informative way\u00a0and commonly\u00a0we see it presented in a way that obscures or distorts\u00a0our perception of reality.\u00a0We are presented with partial facts\u00a0quoted without context –\u00a0so we unconsciously fill in the gaps with our own assumptions and prejudices and in so doing distort\u00a0our perception further.\u00a0 And\u00a0the more emotive the subject the more durable the memory that we create – which means it continues to distort our future perception even more.<\/p>\n
The primary purpose of the news media is survival –\u00a0by selling news – so the more emotive and memorable the news the better it sells.\u00a0 Accuracy and\u00a0completeness can render news less attractive: by generating the “that’s obvious, it is not news” response.\u00a0\u00a0Catchy headlines sell news and to do that they need to\u00a0generate a specific\u00a0emotional reaction quickly – and that emotion is curiosity! Once alerted, they must hold the readers attention\u00a0by quickly creating\u00a0a sense of drama and suspense – like a good joke – by being just ambiguous enough\u00a0to\u00a0resonate with many different pepole – playing on their\u00a0prejudices to build the emotional intensity.<\/p>\n
The purpose of politicians is survival – to stay in power long enough to achieve their goals – so the less\u00a0negative press they attract the better – but\u00a0Politicians and the Press need each other because their purpose is the same – to survive by selling an idea\u00a0to the masses – and to do that they must distort reality and create ambiguity.\u00a0 This\u00a0has the unfortunate side effect of also generating less-than-wise decisions.<\/p>\n
So if our goal is to\u00a0cut through the emotive fog and get to a good decision quickly so that\u00a0we can act effectively\u00a0we need just the right data presented in context and in an\u00a0unambiguous format that\u00a0we, the decision-maker, can interpret quickly. The most accessible\u00a0format\u00a0is\u00a0as a picture that tells a story – the past, the present and the likely future – a future that is\u00a0shaped by the actions that come from\u00a0the decisions we make in the present that we make using\u00a0information from the past.\u00a0 The skill is to\u00a0convert data into a story … and one simple and effective\u00a0tool for doing that\u00a0is a process behaviour chart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sustained\u00a0improvement only follows from effective actions; which\u00a0follow from well-informed\u00a0decisions –\u00a0not\u00a0from blind guessing.\u00a0\u00a0A well-informed decision imples good information – and good information is not\u00a0just good data.\u00a0Good information\u00a0implies that\u00a0good data is presented in a format that\u00a0is both undistorted and meaningful to the recipient.\u00a0\u00a0How we present data\u00a0is, in my experience,\u00a0one of the weakest links in the improvement process.\u00a0\u00a0We … <\/p>\n