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Are we putting to much faith in data? We interviewed Dr Viktor Dörfler (VD), University of Strathclyde, to discuss how it can be “dangerous to start believing that better data analysis is sufficient for better decisions” and how not to underestimate the importance of intuition.
KB: What’s the key business challenge that organisations need to address, that your research tackles?
VD: With the IS/ICT development we can handle more and more data, and we can do this faster and faster. Furthermore, data is produced at an ever-increasing rate. It is dangerous to start believing that better data analysis is sufficient for better decisions. The essence of this problem is that we can only analyse what the databases contain, and the world if far richer, far more colourful, and far more human than this. We must not forget that for good decision making we also need those things that humans can perceive, but are not contained in databases. Don’t make the mistake of believing it is only a matter of time until everything is in databases; data will always only be just data, and never meaning.
KB: What advice would you give to executives, based on your findings?
VD: Be SmArt. What it means is: don’t underestimate the importance of intuition, and at the same time don’t throw out all the data analysis in favour of doing everything intuitively. SmArt includes both data analysis and intuition, always in a fruitful mix, achieving even more when they mutually inform each other. For instance, the intuition of an expert may help develop new analysis, which may fuel new intuition, and so forth in cycles. In order to achieve this, executives will need to create culture that enables SmArt context. They need to create a culture in which analytical and intuitive thinkers coexist, mutually respect each other, and where it is OK to transition from one to the other or to be both. It is important to understand that using intuition does not have to be untidy, unsystematic or lacking explanation. There are appropriate IS/ICT tools, primarily causal maps and expert systems, which make the process orderly.
KB: How does your latest research approach this? What do the results indicate?
VD: I have conducted in-depth interviews with 17 Nobel Laureates, and my former PhD student Marc Stierand conducted similar interviews with 18 of the best chefs in the world. Both of these studies indicated that intuition plays a crucial role in this high-level creativity. I would even risk the following assertion: no significant creative outcome can be achieved without intuition. The other area where intuition plays a significant role is the decisions of top executives. Therefore, we need to help decision takers and experts, particularly those who engage in creative problem solving, reliably develop their intuition in addition to using analysis. For this, it is of immense importance to support master-apprentice relationships, and develop highly performing hubs that I call ‘hot spots’.
KB: Any final thoughts?
All of our education has previously been focused on developing our analytical mind, neglecting or even suppressing the intuitive mind. We need to help people switch between intuitive and analytical perspectives, and help others understand the interplay between the two.
With thanks to Dr Viktor Dörfler, Senior Lecturer in Information & Knowledge Management, University of Strathclyde.