When Is It Too Much Data?

To all of you efficiency gurus, I apologize for my disagreement. But this comes from years of experiencing the utter failures of my repeated attempts. You’re fighting a battle that you’ll never win.

It’s been awhile, but I’m going to have to cross back into the technical for this one. I’m a data lover. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m enthralled at what you can do with raw data. It’s a symphony of chaos from which I can detect a thread to pull in order to extract what I need. Data mining really is that: digging through the data to come up with those few gems that can be polished. The findings create the foundation that we all use to generate our own creations for our own individual purposes. But when does it become destructive because you’re purposely trying to manipulate the process for your own visualized outcome?

Business has become fixated on pulling as much data as possible to fit their most far-fetched campaigns. It’s as if they expect the natural order to come into line with calculated efficiency. Well, I’m sure that anyone who has handled raw data can tell you that it’s an uphill battle when first starting the analysis. The direction that the data will take you is never immediately apparent. And many times, it will only lead you to a dead end. There simply is no order when searching through seeming chaos. We’re the ones who build order into the data. Data simply exists. Perfection doesn’t.

So, why is there so much emphasis on data collection? It doesn’t seem like we’re seeing vast improvements from this process. I’m continually bombarded with requests to participate in surveys. Well, I can tell you that if you didn’t approach me personally with a concept that I’m willing to buy into, then I won’t agree. Why, when there’s no social benefits to your request? Sure, your loyal customers will get more points for things that they really don’t need. I’m already too busy keeping the stuff I have clean, so no thanks. Not unless, it’s something that I’m willing to keel over for. And that’s not about to happen any time soon, since I always follow my trusted “Do I really need this?” approach to question the need repetitively until I come up with the answer that feels right. Sometimes “yes”, but most times “No!”.  And vacations? Who has the time?

The trend that bothers me the most is the one that implies that continued oversight will lead to optimal efficiency and positive returns. Keep feeding me data, and I will give you operations that will make you weep because of their productivity.

The saying of the watched pot never boils really is true. Time is an observation of our own making because we are linear thinkers, but impatience always derails us. Our expectations that everything falls into line as we expect them to is repeatedly debunked by nature. Nature has its own perception about reality, and it isn’t like ours.

The same holds true for tangible returns. Watching the minute details of your operations will not lead to positive returns every time. Control is a figment of our imagination. And nature isn’t going to cooperate with our expectations. There are so many variables in any given situation, that the outcomes can be infinite. Anyone who expects to bring order because of a learned model is missing the big picture. There’s too much variability in your data. Your assumptions are simply that, true until an event makes them false. Models are finite. Nothing stays on a linear path forever. That’s simply the way life works!

The pursuit of perfection is admirable and should be sought whenever accomplishing something. But don’t let it blind you to the point of irresponsibility.

So yes, continue to love your data. But don’t expect it to always love you back.