A colleague of mine at McKinsey used to once work at Capital One, an extremely data-driven company.
It was understandable that a fintech company would love data but even their senior management took decisions off spreadsheets. And sometimes, it led them in the wrong direction.
Why would they do that?
Most of their leaders had come up from the world of quant analysis. And humans have a bias — we overuse the tools we are comfortable with. (There is an old cliche — ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.’)
But unfortunately, complex business problems in the real world don’t lend themselves fully to quantitative modeling. For any big decision, you have to bring in all your knowledge and intuition.
But how do you take decisions without conclusive data?
That is why you need intelligent and experienced leaders. And that is why good CEOs are paid so much. Else, why would we need them?
I have almost never come across any big decision, personal or professional, where I had complete information.
Get used to taking decisions without complete clarity. Because when you become a leader, this will be your full-time job — taking decisions fully knowing that they could go totally wrong.
– Rajan