Number-driven vs. Data-driven
We’re mistaking data-driven for being number-driven. One sucks, the other is great and makes us successful.
“Data-driven decision making is about translating data into knowledge and knowledge into informed actions.”
— Daniel Keys Moran, American programmer and science fiction writer
Airbnb doesn’t expand into new markets by extensive data and research; that’s part of the efforts, of course, but the main tool they use is their localization team.
Airbnb’s teams collect local stories, anecdotes, and a bunch of things that wouldn’t pass most people’s test for “data.”
And yet it is this exact intense focus on localization that makes Airbnb successful. By adapting to local practices, they are able to roll out their services fast, and effectively.
Number-Driven
I think we all know we don’t feel data-driven enough. But we all feel like we don’t ignore data, we kinda use it, right? I think that’s because of two reasons; one is that being data-driven is hard.
However, the second bigger one is that we don’t really understand what data-driven means.
Look at Amazon. If you ask people at Amazon for examples of the data-driven culture, they won’t…
